


Inside

by TrundleSquash



Category: Among Us (Video Game), youtube - Fandom
Genre: Aliens, Boys In Love, Character Death, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Oblivious Sykkuno, Plot, Protective Corpse, Romance, imposter/crewmate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:13:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27280993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrundleSquash/pseuds/TrundleSquash
Summary: Sykkuno had made it into the ship before anyone else but he could only stand there and watch as the alien creatures (though they were the aliens here) tore apart his crewmates one by one as they ran for the ship. There were only ten of them left now.
Relationships: Corpse Husband/Sykkuno
Comments: 248
Kudos: 2552





	1. The Beginning of the End

The doors shut with a resounding ‘BOOM!’.

The remaining crew members lay strewed about on the landing bay, heaving chests, groans of pain, cries of sorrow. How many of their comrades had they left behind?

Sykkuno had made it into the ship before anyone else but he could only stand there and watch as the alien creatures (though they were the aliens here) tore apart his crewmates one by one as they ran for the ship. There were only ten of them left now.

What was meant to be a peaceful reconnaissance mission had ended in a bloodbath. They had landed on the planet at 1300 hours. Everything was fine. There had been no seismic activity recorded in the past three days and the ships oxygen filters were left untouched by the Flights so there was no need to retreat so soon. They even managed to get the bio-organic samples that had been too difficult to extract earlier as their roots tied directly into the Minov’er Trim and detaching them any faster than a snail’s pace would cause them to explode. They had just managed to transfer the last plant into the ship when a shrill scream came from the south.

Sykkuno spotted Red and Purple coming over the hill. Red was limping badly, Purple struggling to hold her up. Maroon appeared at the top of the hill following them firing at something behind them. Suddenly Maroon was pierced through the visor, the tip of the large spike speared through the back of their head. It was sickening but Sykkuno couldn’t look away. A large humanoid creature now stood on top of Maroon’s body, the spiked protrusion coming out of its mouth like a tongue. It had two more silver spikes protruding from its head, curled like rams’ horns and more were wrapped around its chest. The eyes of the creature were staring at him, gleaming a colour Sykkunno couldn’t describe and he couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that this creature was beautiful, before he felt the sickness well up in his stomach and he threw up onto the ground.

The sound of yelling brought him back to his senses and he fought the sickness back as Brown thrust a gun into his hands telling him to point at anything and fire. He could see them now, there were at least a dozen of the creatures surrounding them, converging on them. He turned back to where he saw the first creature, but it was gone. He quickly moved to where Brown and Orange stood guns raised and firing at anything not wearing a suit. Sykkuno wasn’t a military man, sure he had the general field training, but he wasn’t very good at it. He was a botanist, he was meant to study life, not kill it. So, he found it quite difficult to aim the gun to actually hit anything and by the time he finished the clip he’s not even sure he did. 

Luckily Cyan hailed him then. “Syk! We need you in medical.”

“I’m not sure Toast, you know I’m not a doctor.”

“Doesn’t matter, we have too many injured and Lilly will need the help. And you’re a botanist, ergo better than a chef.” He shrugged before snatching the gun out of his hands.

Sykkuno stood there frozen for a minute longer. He hated being called on for medical assistance, sap was far easier to deal with than blood. The thought itself made him shudder. But it couldn’t be helped, and he would be foolish to contend it.

He had just stepped onto the loading ramp of the ship when all of the ship’s alarms sounded. The captain must be preparing for an emergency take off. That meant that the situation was far worse than what Sykkuno thought it was; that the captain would risk leaving people behind to save the few remaining on the ship. Instead of going straight to medical as he had been asked, Sykkuno stayed on the ramp watching for returning crewmates. Red and Purple had made it to the ship and collapsed just inside the loading bay. Cyan, Brown and Orange had now backed right up to the ramp ready to jump in at the last moment. Down the left side Sykkuno spotted Green practically carrying Yellow with Black covering them, shooting anything that came close. They were hopelessly surrounded. While Black was firing at one creature another came from behind and with jagged blades protruding from its hands it stabbed down through Green’s back. At his cry of anguish Black immediately blew the head off the creature but it was too late, Green was dead. With only a moment of reprise Black threw Yellow’s limp body over his shoulder and sprinted back to the ship. His feet had only just touched the ramp when it began to lift, the doors beginning to close, he stumbled slightly but made it into the loading bay with only a few moments to spare.

Through the crack in the doors Sykkuno could see only two more crewmates who failed to make it in time but even as the doors finally sealed shut, Sykkuno could see the shadows of the creatures looming over them, the door only preventing him for bearing witness to their gruesome demise. Even though the doors were shut, Sykkuno continued to stare with his mind’s eye at the battlefield of blood and death. The people and friends he knew were left dead upon that beautiful alien landscape, they lay on those gorgeous hills like wilted flowers, limp and lifeless. Sykkuno could only hope that the beautiful colours of their life grew new flowers as beautiful as them.

-

Life on the ship was strange after the incident. Many people kept to themselves, they did their jobs and returned to their quarters without a word. The conversations in the cafeteria were always short and so quiet they were almost mute. There was an unspoken rule to never mention the incident and all the people they lost. It would only lead to a string of ‘What if’s and nobody could handle that guilt.

Sykkuno was kept busy in his nursery, his haven. The greenhouse on the ship was barely larger than a broom closet. It was nothing like what they had at the station, but it allowed him to care for all his new subjects in relative peace and quiet. No one else was required to enter the greenhouse so it was where Sykkuno found himself when the rest of the ship became too much.

Sykkuno had spent the first few days locked in the med bay with Lily, never away from Felix or Rae for longer than a moment, making sure they didn’t lose anyone else this trip. Poki was there sometimes too. She wasn’t the only other to visit but she was the only one to come on a regular basis to bring them their meals and to check up on her sister.

The few times that Sykkuno got the chance to escape to the med bay he found that he didn’t really want to because the mood in the Cafeteria was so haunting, at least he was kept busy in the med bay. He would sit with Toast, but they never found much to say, their minds always circling back to the incident. If they were free, Sean and Grease would join them, their presence providing comfort even though they didn’t speak either.

They hadn’t heard from the captain. Knowing Leslie, she probably put all the blame on herself and locked herself away. Every now and then someone would knock on her door just to check on her and remind her that it wasn’t her fault, that the guilt was shared between all of them. None of them knew it would end in disaster and if Leslie hadn’t closed the ship when she did then they would all be dead. It was a hard choice to make, they knew that, and they had their lives to thank her for.

Felix and Rae’s full recovery lifted the mood a bit. Suddenly it wasn’t just death but life as well, and they could at least celebrate all of them being alive. They even managed to drag Leslie away from the navigation desk to join them. It finally started to seem like everyone was getting back to normal. Well, not everyone.

The only person who seemed to have come back from the incident a bit different, was Black. Maybe it was the result of saving someone, or just dropping all their walls to fight back against the creatures, but Black had changed since the incident. Where once he was quiet and shy, never showing his face, now he was more confident. He still kept to himself, but he seemed to be more carefree as if he had bared his all and had nothing left to lose.

Over the next month everyone seemed to go back to their usual selves. Grease would describe everything with his monotonous sarcasm, Felix and Sean would back and forth jokes while they worked. Lily would brighten every room she walked in, Rae and Poki would pick on and annoy each other like only siblings could, Black had come out of his shell and was surprisingly charismatic, Toast spent his day slaving over the hot stove, Leslie worked hard to plot the fastest course home and Sykkuno tucked himself away in his closet sized greenhouse tending to his plants.

Another month and they would be back at the station. Surely nothing else could go wrong.


	2. Well, That Was Easy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post this chapter too because the first was so small. Next one will be in a few of days.
> 
> There are a bunch of things that I have changed in the Skeld but I'll mention them as they come up.  
> For now: The Greenhouse is above Med Bay hallway. The loading bay and air-lock are in storage. And the sleeping quarters exist but are hardly mentioned.
> 
> Anything that sounds remotely scientific or technical I'm pulling out of my arse, but just think of it as 'future stuff is different."
> 
> Also alien stuff makes an appearance.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading! Hope you like it!

They had spent just over a month on this ship and Corpse was growing tired of the cramped space. He hated being contained like this, but it couldn’t be helped. He had managed to carry the injured human aboard the ship, and no one suspected a thing. Nor did they suspect the one they called Rae; the one in the red suit pretending to be another injured human.

They had both been planning to impersonate the humans in that group. She had been successful, but Corpse had been spotted before he could take one for himself. He had played his part and injured the new Rae just enough to be convincing and the humans had dragged her onto the ship themselves. It was only afterwards that Corpse had come across the dying human in the black suit and taken his form. He had picked up the human weapon and fired upon his own lesser beings while helping a few more humans to the ship, all to convince his new crewmates of his human-ness.

It was a long time before he saw Rae again. As far as he was aware their human counterparts weren’t close, so there was no reason for him to enter the med bay. He thought of checking on the human he had saved as an excuse but by that point he had a better understanding of who his human used to be and that would have been too far out of character.

Being stuck in Med Bay gave Rae the perfect excuse to be out of sorts. Her injuries kept her away from most of the crew and sleeping away the days gave her more time to become in tune with the human memories.

Corpse had gotten lucky with his as well. A social recluse unknown to pretty much everyone on this ship and after an incident like that, any change in personality would be forgiven and written off as being stress induced. Unless of course that was Black who seemed to have no personality to begin with in which case any personality that Corpse showed would simply be him coming out of his shell. Corpse smiled at that. Humans could be fooled so easily.

At first he acted cautiously, trying not to draw any attention to himself, trying to get assimilated into his new body and mind before he could do anything worthy of suspicion, but with the way the others were throwing themselves at him in thanks for saving the one they called Felix, Corpse figures they would be too indebted to him to sus him out so soon anyway.

Black’s memories came to Corpse gradually. At first, he was only able to put names to faces but soon he began to recognise their personalities and eventually remembering some of their interactions with Black which were few and far between. From the few memories that he had gathered so far it seemed as though whenever he spoke, they were all still surprised at how deep his voice was, there were also fragments of emotions there as well, embarrassment and bashfulness? Corpse didn’t understand why someone would be so cautious of their own voice, but he liked it. Whatever the case, the remnants of Black had left a blank slate for Corpse to shape his own and he was all too happy to take advantage of that.

The appearance of his human self wasn’t all that different from his own. Black hair, pale skin, he was smaller than his natural form but then again, all the humans were. The eyes were close enough a colour to his own only missing the iridescent hue that came from being in contact with the T’uith Gthir. But his whole body ached from straining to contain his greater self. They had to keep up the act, but he didn’t know how much longer he could take this.

Corpse sighed loudly, rolling his shoulders as if that would ease the tension in his back. He was crouched in the Upper Engine bay, handing tools over to Grease who had lodged himself into the opening underneath trying to get the thing to come back online. It had been a long, long month. Everyone was busy fixing up parts of the ship that, at the same time, seemed to be falling apart at the seams. The ship had suffered significant damage during the attack and with the skeleton crew that remained they were only just keeping up with the repairs as more things seemed to go wrong.

The engines had both suffered a direct hit only functional enough to get them into orbit before the lower engine conked out. They got that one fixed only just in time for the other one to start making a lot of noise. Grease seemed to think something had lodged it off its axis. Then there was the oxygenator that they had to keep resetting because after a while it would just give up, and the reactor was temperamental at best. It didn’t help that these little jolts of energy kept blowing the fuses in Electrical and cutting out the lights.

It kept them busy at least, and he didn’t have to worry so much about how he was acting, save for pretending that he knew what he was doing with these human contraptions long enough for his human’s memories to supply an answer.

“A-right… Got it!” Grease said excitedly. It was said in the same tone as everything else, but Corpse had learnt how to tell the difference. “Take these and help me up.” Corpse gripped his arm after taking the implements and easily pulled the man out from under the engine. “Dude, have you been working out?” Corpse ignored him; he was always like this. “You know with the way you’ve been these days you may actually get yourself a girl.” This time it was sarcastic, but still Corpse replied.

“Not allowed sexual relationships on the ship.” He sounded like he was reading straight from the rule book, but he didn’t care.

Grease just laughed. “You think that’s stopping me?”

“Yes.”

“No, it’s my respect for women. I would never put a lady in such a predicament.” Grease announced with false valour. Corpse didn’t react so he let it go but he still had that grin on his face before he went all serious again. “Alright. Fire it up! Let’s hope it doesn’t explode.”

Corpse ran the ignition sequence and the engine started to turn over. The smooth hum gradually grew louder, and it was now spinning too fast for his eyes to follow. Just as it reached its idle speed a loud ‘Clang!’ was heard and the engine began to clatter maybe even worse than before. Grease winced at the sound and motioned for him to stop it again.

The engine slowed and the ringing in his ears died down enough to hear Grease muttering to himself. “…at least it didn’t explode… Fuck it! I’m hungry. We can come back to it after lunch.”

Corpse nodded in agreement, he was sick of the heat in the engine bay and he had no wish to get back into it so soon.

As they walked past Med Bay, they happened upon Felix leaving after a check-up and Grease leaned in to ask Lilly if she was coming to lunch or if she wanted him to bring her something on the way back. She refused his offer but only because she was waiting for Sykkuno and that they would meet them in Cafeteria.

Felix was a funny character. He was the type of person who was incredibly smart, but you’d never believe it by the way they acted. It was like his brain was wired differently to others and he would always end up saying something completely bizarre but in his mind was entirely related to the topic at hand. That, and he was just a funny guy. He also insisted on doing as much as he could for Black in repayment for saving his life no matter how much Corpse tried to stop him.

They entered the cafeteria and found Sean and Toast already sitting at the centre table. Over time they had all decided to congregate in the middle of the room knowing that if they stayed far apart, they would never heal. They needed each other. They were a social species.

Toast quickly got up and began to load the plates with gloopy foods and overly dried breads. This was one of the worst parts of being human, that this disgusting liquid accounted for food and that was how these creatures restored their energy. He couldn’t understand how any of them could like this, but his hosts memories of apparently better foods were too faded for comparison, so Corpse was inclined to believe that the entire concept of eating was disgusting and that they were just used to it.

Toast handed him his plate with a smile and Corpse fought the acid that flooded his mouth as the rancid smell hit his nose. Yeah, he couldn’t wait until he could be free from all this. He sat down at the table beside Sean who seemed a lot happier with the food than normal. Looking more closely at the gloop he could see that it was a different colour than yesterdays and hopefully more tolerable if Sean’s groan of approval was anything to go by.

Corpse didn’t really know these two as much as Grease or Felix. Sean was in Security with Felix, so they spoke occasionally. He seemed nice and had a very strange accent. When he was intoxicated it became so thick that Corpse had no idea what he was saying. For a moment he thought this miscommunication would catch him out, but it quickly became apparent that the others had no idea what he was saying either.

Toast on the other hand kept mainly to his kitchen, their paths didn’t cross often and the only time they really spoke was during meals where Corpse remained mostly silent anyway. On that same vein were Poki and Rae. It was all the same civilised conversation over a meal, but they really had nothing to do with each other outside of that. From his memories he found that, if anything, Rae would only speak to him for the sake of being seen speaking to him and Poki would occasional say something nice to him because she hated the idea that anyone could dislike her. More’s the pity, if only him and Rae had the convenience of being able to talk privately without raising questions, they would’ve been able to plan their next move together, or at least complain about these awful cramps.

Said sisters had just entered the cafeteria along with the captain.

“Grease! Black! How’s the engine coming along?” Leslie asked, following the two girls to collect their food from Toast.

“No better than it was an hour ago.” Grease spoke up. “We’ll give it another go after lunch.”

“Okay, let me know when it’s good to go. I want this ship going at full speed as soon as possible. We need to make up for lost time.” Both Grease and Corpse nodded silently, Grease with his mouth full of food and Corpse trying not to spit it out.

The three girls sat down across the table from them and started on their own gruel. Corpse watched with a mix of amusement and disgust as Rae only hesitated for a moment before she dug into her food with a gusto Corpse couldn’t have imitated if his life depended on it.

At the sound of the doors behind him opening, Corpse knew that the last two stragglers had finally joined them in the cafeteria. Lily breezed though greeting everyone in turn before she collected her food. Sykkuno seemed a bit distracted and only broke out of his daze when Toast thrust his tray at him playfully. Corpse had never witnessed two less frightening creatures in his life than these two right here. Lily spoke so softly and cared for everyone on this ship wholeheartedly no matter who they were. She had even attempted to drag Corpse into the med bay for a check-up several times which he absolutely refused. 

Sykkuno on the other hand just seemed like he wouldn’t be able to hurt anything no matter how hard he tried. Corpse recognised him from the day of the incident, when he met eyes with the human who looked at him in wonder despite his true form. He had also witnessed him attempt to handle a human weapon at which he was truly hopeless. But there was one thing that made him certain, and that was the sense of T’uith that resonated within him. 

It was faint at first, barely noticeable, but when he did notice it, it took everything in his being not to slam the human up against the wall and absorb the T’uith through his skin. Back home there were no gooey liquids or pebbles of food like these humans have, the pure essence of their Gthir was the only sustenance their kind had ever known. They would seek out the carriers of T’uith, usually bright flowers or shy creatures that held the same purity and would absorb the essence through them. For this human to have the essence within him, he must be aligned with the T’uith.

For a long time, his kind had been wary of aliens who would come to steal their T’uith. If another kind ever discovered the power that resided within Gthir, they would not be content until the whole of Gthir was a dying wasteland. The elders say this was why they were created, to fight for the planet but never a want to leave, for leaving meant leaving their strength behind. And Corpse could feel it. He may still be stronger than the human race, but his health had waned significantly, the human food not enough to sustain them.

That all changed with Sykkuno. Suddenly Corpse would find any excuse possible to be in physical contact with this small human. In just a moment of contact he could absorb enough energy to get him though another week without this miserable substance the humans call food. He’s not sure if Rae had caught on yet, and for some reason, Corpse wanted to keep this little discovery to himself to the point where he would absorb just enough from Sykkuno for the levels of T’uith to be unnoticeable to the other. Corpse doesn’t know if Sykkuno has noticed anything yet but if the sudden flush of colour on his cheeks and the abrupt stuttering is anything to go by, Corpse needed to be more cautious.

There was still the question of where the human was getting the T’uith. A Carrier had to be connected to Gthir in some way to be able to create the T’uith, so unless the human had managed to replicate Gthir, which would be both impossible and too horrifying to imagine, there must be another carrier of T’uith on board this ship that the human keeps leeching from, and Corpse could bet that its tucked away in that little sanctuary of his.

Corpse hadn’t realised he was staring at Sykkuno until Grease had finished his food and nudged him lightly signalling for him to follow him back to the engine room. Corpse got up with him, despite not finishing his food yet, and scaped off his leftovers into the waste bin. He’d have something else to eat later anyway. He followed Grease out of the cafeteria without looking back, so he missed the way the entire table was now staring at Sykkunno with a wild mix of expressions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't understand something just ask and I'll put it in the next chapter's notes.
> 
> Remember Kudos!


	3. Disturbed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, trying to make sense of the essence of the game to play out realistically was a bit difficult. I also had to try and come up with a way that finishing the tasks would doom the aliens.
> 
> There is a lot that I have to change, like:  
> \- Ghosts don't exist.  
> \- Tasks are completely random, downloads and uploads are all over the ship, I even added a few more tasks in some areas of the ship.  
> \- Naturally there is no teleportation to the meetings so I have to account for that, ergo, no way to hide bodies.  
> \- Also human decency demands the collection of the fallen.
> 
> Hopefully I explained it well enough, if you had any trouble understanding let me know and I try again in the next chapter's notes.
> 
> //Oh, and they don't wear their space suits on board the ship, that's why I stopped referring to them as colours.

Sykkuno stayed looking down at his food trying to act normal even while he could feel those green eyes piercing into his very soul, unwavering in their intensity. Just when he thought he couldn’t take it anymore he felt the gaze lift from him. Black got up from the table and followed Grease out of the room without saying a word.

It felt like the room itself was holding its breath until the doors slid shut behind them and then chaos rang out.

Sykkuno felt dizzy as all the tension left the room at once.

“Wow! I wish a guy would look at me that way.” Poki said, sounding more jealous than she probably should.

“I know right? That was intense.” Rae commented, doing her own attempt at staring at him intensely.

“Wh-What? Guys! Come on. He probably wasn’t even looking at me. He seemed deep in thought.” Sykkuno said but he could feel the heat burning in his cheeks and tried to cover it with his hands.

“Yeah! Thinking about eating you up for dinner!” Leslie’s chided, only making him blush harder even though there was no way that what she said was true.

“That or you have something on your face… What’s that?” Sean asked pointing at his face. Sykkuno put his head down furiously wiping around his mouth in case there was any sauce left on his face. “Just kidding!” He sounded far too happy tormenting the other man.

Sykkuno hated when they teased him like this, it was all too easy to make him blush and they knew it. Truthfully, he had no idea why Black was staring at him in such a way, but it gave him the same fluttering in his stomach as any of the times Black had accidentally touched him.

He didn’t know how or why but somehow over the past couple of weeks the amount of times that Sykkuno had come into contact with Black had far exceeded the count that came before that which he’s pretty sure sat at a neat, zero. He didn’t know if these were just accidents or if maybe Sykkuno was subconsciously putting himself where Black would run into him. He just couldn’t tell, but it was affecting him in a way where he didn’t know whether to lean into the touch or bolt as fast as he could to the other side of the ship.

He chose the safest option and locked himself up with his plants, their presence paramount to easing his state of mind. Subject K02-MT5 was the name allocated for this new species, but Sykkuno liked to think of them as Blue Cacoons. They were beautiful flowers, bright blue on the outside of the petals but blended green on the inside towards the stem. The petals were hard like shells and as a new petal formed the entire flower shifted back, the last and oldest petal falling away when there was no more room for it at the stem. The shell-like petals aligned in a row, each semicircle encompassing the next petal and from the newest petal, fir like growths protruded from the inside, surprisingly soft but it had no notable scent. The leaves and stem were a rich red but faded blue veins ran down the sides. 

Looking at said plants he took note of their drooping leaves and faded colours and wrote another entry into his log. He flicked back through the pages to look over his notes of the past month, trying to find something he’d missed or something he hadn’t tried yet but no matter how much he looked he couldn’t find the answer to keeping these plants alive. He’s sure that the answer lay back on that planet but returning there was out of the question and Sykkuno had to make do with the samples already gathered.

Sykkuno had taken all the samples he could have thought of in the Blue Cacoon’s surrounding environment, from its neighbouring vegetation to the very atoms and consistencies that made up the atmosphere. He tried to replicate its habitat exactly as recorded but Sykkuno was sure that the missing ingredient was the only thing he couldn’t replicate for the life of him, and boy, did he try. No matter what he did, or what method he used, he could only get as far as the base solution. He couldn’t fathom what he was missing that made the solution into the Minov’er Trim. Perhaps it was something that couldn’t be understood, that thought remained in the back of his mind, but the science he knew refused to acknowledge that idea, and so he pushed on. 

He only had one vial left of the original Minov’re Trim solution that he had extracted in the process of detaching the Cacoons, and as much as he wanted to use it to revitalise the plants, he knew that he had to use the solution sparingly if he wanted to see both the plants and the solution back at the station where he had more space and more options to work with.

Vibrations shook though the ship again as the engineers attempted to restart the engines, it seemed to be working alright if the continuous low hum was anything to go by. Poking his head out of the door Sykkuno spotted Grease and Black already entering Cafeteria on their way up to Navigation to give the captain the go ahead. Sykkuno sighed with relief, so long as they kept moving, the ship should reach the station long before he used the last of the MT solution.

The ship was well and truly on its way by the time dinner rolled around. A new course had been plotted to account for their increased speed and everyone was excited at the fact that their course adjustment would decrease their time stuck on the ship by three whole days. They all gathered around the centre table, each of them in their respective seats that hadn’t changed since the incident, for a nice hot meal of mashed steak and pea soup.

Leslie was the last to show up, entering the cafeteria with a huge smile on her face, but upon asking her what she was so happy about she just asked for them all to meet her in Communications after dinner. 

Sykkuno kept his eyes on his food. He wasn’t particularly hungry, but he didn’t want to risk seeing Black staring at him from across the table again. He couldn’t help it though as he peaked up at Black and sighed in relief and a bit in disappointment at not having the piercing green eyes trained on him. 

Instead Black was almost glaring at his own food, barely eating anything, just moving it around with his fork until it became a disgusting combination of everything on his plate. Sykkuno noticed that Black didn’t ever seem to eat much but he didn’t know if that was a new development. The only time he had ever seen him eat before was when he was forced to stay in the cafeteria during celebrations or special occasions, and he certainly wasn’t interested in it then either.

His worries were relayed by Lily who constantly asked him to stop by for a check-up, almost pulling him with her sometimes but he always refused and Lily decided that so long as he didn’t pass out on the job then he should be alright. And he did look fine. He was no paler than he ever was, there was no noticeable decrease in muscle mass and when he smiled it was as if he was glowi- Stop It! Stop it. He couldn’t let his mind run away with these thoughts like that. 

Who knew how Black functioned. Maybe he just snuck food away later and still didn’t like eating in front of them. Black had changed so much so quickly but they were so glad that he finally came out of his shell. They were all now familiar with his deep voice in addition to theirs during a conversation that it no longer surprised them when he spoke up, yet he was still pretty quiet, only speaking when he had something to say. He also didn’t try to avoid everyone anymore, when he passed someone in the hallway, he would at least greet them with a nod of the head. And when he laughed Sykkuno couldn’t help but laugh along with him, he felt so giddy that they were able to make the other so happy.

Sykkuno realised that while he had been lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t taken his eyes off Black so he quickly lowered his gaze before anyone could notice. After dinner Leslie excitedly shepherded everybody into the communications room. She stood in front of everyone, smile splitting her face in two.

“Okay, everyone… I know that we’ve all been having a tough time with these endless repairs and delays in our journey, and I know how everyone feels about the facilities that were disabled due to the damages to Communications.” Everyone murmured in agreement. “Well, I’ve been working hard at fixing the coms unit and I’m proud to say that I think I’ve been able to get part of it to come back online. I haven’t tested it yet because I wanted all of you to be here when I try to boot it up.” Poki smiles and gives her the thumbs up. “Okay, let’s hope this works.”

They all crossed their fingers as the computer booted up, so far so good, it had made it past the initial loading stage. Stagnant colours began to appear above the screen which showed that the 3D projector still worked but as the lights began to flicker and jolt around it was obvious that it was still far to damaged to be of any use. On the screen they could see various implements around the ship like the security cameras and the map in admin loading up and glowing green for active. There was also a list of all tasks that still required completion that popped up as a scrolling window, the time it took to finish scrolling was a bit daunting, but it failed to ruin the good mood. Just as the com’s unit finished running diagnostics a loud alert popped up on the screen.

Sykkuno couldn’t read it from where he stood but he saw Leslie get a closer look, her brows pinched in confusion and concern. “Err… Hang on…” She pushed a few of the on-screen buttons which appeared to re-run the diagnostics check but the same alert message popped up on screen. She seemed to ponder it for a moment before she looked up at him, “Sykkuno, come here.” He had no idea what it was, but he was really nervous all of a sudden. 

He stepped up beside Leslie to read the message. Alert: Two unknown organisms detected within the ship.

He looked up at Leslie in confusion, but she was watching him carefully. “You haven’t removed any of those plants from the greenhouse, have you?”

“N-No, nothing has come in or out of there since they were extracted and there aren’t any sensors in that room.” Sykkuno stuttered out, Leslie’s gaze pinning him to the spot and making him nervous even though there was no way he could have been responsible. “Would the ship be able to tell where the organisms were identified?”

“Normally they would show up on the 3D display but-” She gestured to the complete mess of coloured lights flickering about, “there’s no way to tell without replacing the lenses.” She stared off into nothing for a moment while the rest of the room began to murmur quietly, all of them now having caught on to the situation.

“Wait, so there is some sort of alien creature aboard the ship and somehow for the past month we’ve never noticed it?” Poki asked in disbelief.

“You say that like you’re expecting it to be a bug or something, but what if it’s some sort of foreign pathogen that’s been infecting us this whole time.” Toast replied.

“No, the sensors wouldn’t pick up on something so small, besides it appears to be two distinct organisms not a virus hanging around the ship.” Leslie corrected with a blank look, to busy thinking about their options.

“What if it’s just an alien moth and the only reason we haven’t seen it is because it’s stuck in a light dome somewhere.” Felix said, and Sean laughed.

“That begs the question, it would need food, right? Would it still appear on the sensors if it was already dead?” Poki asked.

“What if it’s a parasite that controls the mind of the host and they are currently sucking out our brains?” Black suggested seriously, his voice haunted, but his grin gave away that he was joking.

“You watch too many horror movies!” Rae said dismissively at the same time Lily cried, “Don’t say things like that! I don’t want to think about things like that, it gives me the creeps.”

“There may be a way to relay the sensor data through the coms unit and into the map in Administration…” Leslie began.

“But that would still be corrupted because of all of the errors in each room.” Grease sighed and shook his head. “We would need to complete most of these tasks, with enough done in each room we would be able to view the detectors in that room alone on the broken 3D display-"

“-but because it would all transfer as one component, we would need all of the rooms to be clear of errors to view the complete sensor data on the map.” Leslie finished, nodding.

Grease and Leslie seemed to agree with each other and began to plan a course of action. Sykkuno had very little knowledge of how computers and relays worked but he understood the gist of it. If they wanted to find these aliens, they would have to complete that long, scrolling list of tasks before the locations of the creatures would show up on the Admin table map. Then they would be able to find them and systematically dispose of them. Sykkuno hoped that they would be able to catch them instead, especially if they were even half as interesting as the Blue Cacoons.

Grease began writing out a list of tasks and handing them off to each of them in turn. Leslie also offered them a bracelet and a small keyring with only one item hanging off it that looked a bit like a remote with a single button.

Everyone had begun murmuring with each other again, some groaning about the tasks they had been given, before Leslie quietened them again by clapping her hands to get their attention. “Alright everyone! Now let me make the situation clear. There are two unknown organisms on this ship that may or may not have been present for the past month. We don’t know what they are, we don’t know where they are and most of all we don’t know whether or not these creatures could be hostile. If they really have been among us this whole time, then I’m inclined to believe that they are passive creatures but perhaps that’s only because they have remained unnoticed and undisturbed. Either way these creatures need to be discovered and eliminated as soon as possible.

“Each of you have been given a list of tasks that need to be completed, I know they seem a bit random but it’s important, for if anything happens that makes you unable to finish your tasks, we should still be able to complete enough to get the map to come online. I have also given you a vitals band, while I’m not expecting any of you to need them it’s better to be safe than sorry. You also have with you an emergency button. If you see anything unusual or even the creatures themselves, push that button and it will set off the ships fire alarm. If the fire alarm goes off, everyone must drop whatever it is they’re doing and go straight to the cafeteria where we will meet up at the centre table. Any questions?”

Nobody said anything for a moment, not completely understanding the situation enough to form a proper question until Rae spoke up, “If we see a creature, wouldn’t setting off the fire alarm scare it off?”

“If you see the creature then at least we will know what it looks like and will be able to approach it as a group. You are not to approach one of these creatures by yourself no matter how small it is. Do I make myself clear?” She waited for each of them to sound their agreement before she allowed them to move on.

“Well if that’s everything we should get moving. Remember, finish all of those tasks as soon as possible and most of all, stay safe.” With that everyone shuffled out the door and spilt off to complete their tasks.

Sykkuno noticed Toast heading towards Storage and quickly caught up to him. “Hey, where’s your first task?”

“I have two in Electrical, you?”

“Just the one, but I also have one in Storage, will you wait with me?”

“Sure.” Toast stood to the side as Sykkuno ran his download. It took a good few minutes that felt like they would draw on forever in the looming silence of the ship. Neither of them spoke, still trying to comprehend the situation they suddenly found themselves in. The download finished with a quiet beep but it still shocked Sykkuno who jumped slightly. Toast laughed at how skittish his friend was but at least the tension between them had broken.

“What do you think…?” Toast asked along the way to Electrical.

“I don’t know. It’s probably something small right? To miss it for this long, it has to be.” Sykkuno said, trying to convince himself.

“You sure nothing came out of the greenhouse with you, nothing hiding in the flowers?”

“No, nothing. I swear.”

“I believe you.”

They had just walked into Electrical when the doors slammed shut behind them. Sykkuno jumped back and stood slightly behind Toast. Toast rushed up to the door and started banging on it, trying to get somebody’s attention. He even tried to force the door open himself, but it wouldn’t budge. Sykkuno could feel his vision falling short and his senses heightened in a way that only made himself feel small and Sykkuno realised he was beginning to panic. He tried telling himself that the ship had been playing up for the past month, and just because there might be some alien on board now, doesn’t mean the ship will suddenly start functioning properly, but it wasn’t working. His heart was racing, and he could feel his breath becoming short. Toast gave up on the door when he noticed Sykkuno, now sitting on the floor with his hands covering his face, breathing harsh and fast. Toast knelt beside him and placed a comforting hand on his back. He began to talk to Sykkuno and although he could hear his voice, he couldn’t understand what he was saying, but the comforting tone and the steady rubbing on his back began to calm him down.

They heard the door slide open again on its own accord and Sykkuno finally looked up into the glassy eyes of Leslie as her torso lay on the floor, face contorted into a scream with blood still seeping from her mouth. 

Sykkuno screamed. 

Leslie’s body had been severed at the waist with the rest of her body another metre down the blood streaked hallway, as if in her final moments she had attempted to drag herself to the electrical room door where she probably knew was where they were. But if she knew where they were then that meant that she was right behind them, and the killer right behind her… Sykkuno knew he should be grieving over the death of his friend but his mind couldn’t let go of the fact that he could have died right then. If Leslie wasn’t there or if Toast decided not to wait with him, he could have been the one to have been ripped apart so brutally. Tears streamed down his face, every thought running through his mind all lead to him being dead, or Toast being dead, or Leslie actually being dead. He felt somebody other than Toast sit down beside him, and it took him a minute to realise that he was actually in the cafeteria now, Toast somehow having managed to coax him away from the body.

The others seemed to be arguing over something but Sykkuno didn’t care to listen. He didn’t want to be here; he didn’t want this to be true. Maybe if they all just stayed here frozen in time nothing bad would ever happen again. They could all be safe here. They just had to stay here, but they were leaving…

At the sight of Grease, Sean, Black and Toast all heading for the cafeteria doors Sykkuno panicked. He lurched from his seat and rushed towards them, tears still falling from his eyes so he couldn’t see properly, but he grabbed onto the first person he could and tried to drag them back into the room. They couldn’t leave. “No, no, no... stay here… safe stay… here no...” His mind was churning so much, he realised he wasn’t making any sense but what more was there to understand.

Strong arms managed to remove his grip from their body and Sykkuno felt like he was about to fall apart again but instead they brought their own arms around him and hugged him tightly. The deep, husky voice that could only belong to Black breathed next to his ear. “It’s okay. Calm down Sykkuno. We’re just going to collect the body. We can’t just leave her in the middle of a hallway, can we? It’ll be alright because we’ll be going in a big group and you and the others will stay here, alright, so that you will all be safe.”

His voice was so calming and measured and he had said that they would be safe right? Yeah, safe. Sykkuno felt the energy drain out of him and he felt exhausted, his limbs were weak, and he just wanted to tuck himself into the warmth of these arms, but all too soon Black was pulling away.

Felix had come up beside him and guided Sykkuno back to the table where the rest of them sat and the others left to collect the body. Nobody said anything but Lily offered her lap for Sykkuno to lie on and he didn’t have the energy to argue. Within seconds he felt himself losing consciousness and was sucked into a world of dead bodies and deep voices.


	4. Invited for the Long Haul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's up for the longest chapter??? A Whopping 6000 Words!!!
> 
> Oh, God! The amount of times I accidentally wrote 'Corpse' in someone's dialogue... I think I caught them all...
> 
> So, yeah, I never gave Rae(the alien) a new name because I didn't want too. She is Rae though.
> 
> Not much else to say for this chapter.  
> Hope you like it!

Toast lead the other three to the body just outside of Electrical.

It was a gruesome sight. Definitely not one of Corpse's finer kills and that fact alone made it easier to play along as just another shocked crew member. Seriously though, he hadn’t realised he’d got it on the ceiling. The walls were sprayed with blood and more of it coagulated in two separate pools under each half of the body.

He hadn’t meant to be so vicious, but it had been so long since he had released his true form, the result was just a mix of built up tension and a want to stretch his muscles.

“Fucking, Jesus!” Sean had to look away for a moment, his face turned to a grimace and tears built up in his eyes, but he pushed them down before turning back to the body. Grease didn’t react as harshly, but his expression was pained, and Corpse decided to copy him.

Toast stepped over the bottom half of Leslie’s body and crouched beside her torso, he reached towards her face and gently closed her eyes so that it almost looked like she was sleeping. Corpse thought this action was rather touching, if pointless.

“Fuck, where do we even start?” Toast asked, looking up at the rest of them.

“Where’s that body bag?” At Grease’s request Corpse unfolded the body bag and laid it down on the floor. They tactfully manoeuvred Leslie’s body to lie somewhat gracefully before they zipped it back up.

“Should we…?” Sean asked gesturing to all the blood on the walls.

“No.” Corpse said, “We’ve done as much as we can for now, there’s no reason to keep putting ourselves in danger with some predator on the loose.”

The others agreed readily after being reminded of the danger. Between the four of them they easily carried the body back to the cafeteria.

Upon entering the room, they found everyone else exactly where they had left them, all of them now staring at the body bag they were holding with a mix of fear and grief. They placed Leslie’s body on one of the cafeteria’s other tables before joining their crewmates at the table.

It was the first time since the incident that the room had been this quiet. They now realised that they hadn’t escaped death, only invited it on board for the ride.

“We need to talk about this.”

Everyone looked up at Toast and Sean said, “Talk about what? The fact that our friend just got split in half by some terrible creature from another planet? You want to talk about that? Well go ahead, talk about it! What do you have to say!?” They were upset, and they were panicking. Without their leader, they really didn’t know how to go on.

“Maybe I want to talk about the fact that this obviously isn’t some insignificant insect of a creature that we’re dealing with. For something to do so- to do something like that, it’s got to be big.”

“But it can’t be big, we would have seen it by now!” Rae pressed back.

Toast had a mad glint in his eyes. “Unless it’s one of us.”

“Stop it! That’s crazy!” Poki shouted.

“Crazy, huh? I want you to take a good look at Leslie’s dead body and you tell me what did that. It’s big, and the biggest living thing on this ship is us.” Corpse could see that this argument wouldn’t end well, not while half of the crew were still in denial, but Corpse could also understand the man’s desperation.

“Shut Up!” The room fell quiet when Lily raised her voice. She glared at them all harshly. “Sykkuno is sleeping.” Was all she said before she went back to running her fingers through Sykkuno’s hair as he slept, his head resting in her lap.

“She’s right, it’s been a long day and we need sleep.” Sean spoke up trying to sooth the tension that hung in the room.

“No, we can’t split up now!” Poki begged, not wanting to be any more than a foot away from at least six people.

“No, we won’t.” Felix amended. “We’ll all sleep in here until the creatures are gone.”

“And we’ll keep watch.” Sean added.

“But there’s two of them and they could be any of us.” Toast insisted.

Felix sighed tiredly, “Then we’ll sleep in turns, three people will be awake at any one time.”

Toast was about to argue again but Sean cut him off before he could start again. “You and I can be on first watch; anyone want to join in?”

Corpse raised his hand. “I won’t be sleeping anytime soon.” Sean nodded, gratefully.

They had collected some of the unused bedding from the sleeping quarters and laid them out on the floor of the cafeteria. It wasn’t the most comfortable night’s sleep, but nobody complained. By the time they had finished Lily was beginning to nod off in her seat and Corpse gently lifted Sykkuno from her lap so that she could get some rest. He laid Sykkuno down as well. He placed a hand against his forehead, checking to make sure that he hadn’t taken too much T’uith earlier. His emotional state had been a complete mess and Corpse felt slightly guilty for being the cause of it. He hadn’t realized that there was anyone else in the area. He’d left the scene to join back up with some of the others before he could notice Leslie trying to drag herself away.

He remembered the way Toast had dragged Sykkuno’s shaking body into the cafeteria. At first Corpse felt a misplaced sense of anger that he hadn’t understood at the time but then Toast had explained what the other had gone through and that anger turned in on himself. When the man had thrown himself at him and begged for him to stay Corpse had been unprepared for the amount of feelings that hit him in that moment. At first, he had just wanted to separate himself from his grasp and whatever he was doing to his head, but at the sight of those teary brown eyes, Corpse found himself hugging him instead. He was glad that he had been able to calm Sykkuno down somewhat, now he just hoped he was having peaceful dreams.

He left Sykkuno on the makeshift bed and joined Sean and Toast at the table. They appeared to be having a hushed discussion that they promptly halted as he approached.

“Oh, no. Go on. I already agree with you.” Corpse said directly to Toast.

“You do?” Sean asked incredulously.

“Well… mostly. The chances of it being something else that is both unnoticeable and powerful enough to cut someone’s body in half are pretty fucking low. But if that something is a shape shifter that could imitate one of us? At least consider the possibility.”

Sean looked away, doing just that.

“What do you mean by ‘mostly’?” Toast asked him.

“Well… Why?”

“Why what? Why do I want to know?”

“No, I mean motive wise. Why?”

“I don’t suppose killing all humans would be enough?” Toast suggested. He said it jokingly, but his tone was dejected. Corpse gave a bitter smile, _if only,_ but he let the conversation fall silent.

After four hours of nothing but small talk and cards the three of them woke up the next shift and went to bed themselves. Corpse picked the spot between where Grease had previously been and Sykkuno, who still slept like a log. He lay staring at the ceiling for a few good minutes before he felt sleep finally take him under.

-

He woke up the next morning, or perceived morning, to find most of the others awake and alert. The only one’s still asleep were Grease and Lily. Corpse got up from his sleep pallet and meandered over to Toast who was handing out Breakfast. He sat down with his food, a colourful combination of yellows, oranges, and whites, and tried to eat as much as he could before he felt the need to bring it all back up.

He saw that Felix and Sean were over by the cafeteria’s doors. They had managed to manually force the doors shut during the night just in case the creatures were still outside, and now they were trying to reopen them again. Corpse found Rae, Poki and Sykkuno standing around Leslie’s body. He watched them carefully as Poki drew the flap of the bag back over to cover the body and Sykkuno visibly shuddered, but other than that he seemed to have adjusted. It was good for them to be able to see what had happened to Leslie, it would certainly help Toast convince them that they had traitors in their midst. Corpse on the other hand hated every second. Why couldn’t they all just stay blissfully ignorant of their presence? Now they couldn’t hide anymore, and it was only a matter of time before they were discovered and actively hunted. It just made his mission harder.

After everyone had eaten, they gathered around the table and decided to get the inevitable discussion out of the way.

“So, you think there are shapeshifting aliens on board our ship and are right now pretending to be people in this very room?” Lily asked, taking everything that Toast had just thrown at them and thinning it down into a single sentence.

“Yes.”

“Okay, if that’s what we’re going with, then who?”

“Well it would have to be someone that has been out of character for the past month because they wouldn’t have been able to imitate the person perfectly, right?” As Toast spoke every pair of eyes in the room turned on Corpse.

“No, it can’t be Black!” Felix defended, “The man saved my life that day!”

“That’s true, why would an alien that wants to kill us all save someone they didn’t have too?” Rae asked.

“To create an alibi…” Grease said sceptically.

Corpse looked at them all in disbelief. For social creatures that relied on each other, they sure were quick to turn against each other. “So, you’re going to immediately pin this on me because I decided to say _fuck it_ to who I used to be? You don’t even know that this isn’t who I am because you never took the time to give a shit!” All of the stares turned away in guilt as they remembered how they used to ignore him. Corpse grit his teeth and tried to get his anger under control. He was so nervous it was making him speak before he had the time to think about it. “Besides you’re missing the fact that there are two imposters. If I am one, and that’s a big fucking ‘ _IF’_ , then someone else has to be the other and as far as I know, nobody else has changed as drastically as I did.”

Discussion broke out across the table. Things that seemed off about some people, things that people did differently since the incident and a growing need to alleviate themselves from any suspicion had their conversation going from a quiet discussion to a full-blown argument.

Sean sat back from the table, unable to hear anything over the screaming match between Poki, Rae and Lily. Finally, he grew sick of it and yelled, “Okay, that’s enough! EVERYBODY QUIET!!!” The girls gradually stopped screaming at each other, but they just wouldn’t let go of the topic.

Frustrated, Sean spoke again, “We are not getting anywhere with these ridiculous accusations! Now is the time that we need everyone to stand together. We have a way to find these aliens-” he held up his list of tasks, “-we just have to get it done.”

That was the only thing they had to hope for to clear all of this up, but once they left this room and split up, anything could happen to any of them, and they’d have no idea if all of their friends would still be there when they returned.

“Black, I have to ask. Why did you decide to come out now?” Sean asked politely.

Corpse sighed, but he knew that if they were ever going to believe him he had to talk about something deep, so he dove into the human’s mind once again and dug up all of those dreadful feelings that had stained his life on the ship. “Because after saving Felix I felt that you guys finally saw more of me than all of the things I hated about myself. It was a hard ledge to jump off, but everyone kept coming back to me despite having already shown their thanks, and I guess I felt that if people wanted to be around me on their own then surely my personality couldn’t be that bad. So, yeah, I started becoming more confident with myself. And the only reason I’m happy to talk about my feelings now, is because I owe all of you my thanks.”

Sean smiled at him, “And that my friend, is a perfectly good reason to become a changed man. I won’t fault you for that.” He gave Corpse a hearty pat on the back before he stood from the table and walked out of the room, the emergency keyring swinging from his finger.

The rest of them followed his lead.

Corpse passed by Weapons on his way to O2, there was a task on his list that said that the oxygen filter needed to be replaced and the chute had to be emptied. Corpse was hesitant to do any of these tasks because the more they did the less time he and Rae would have to pick them off unawares. He peered into the catchment chute and found a bunch of dried leaves. They must have been there for over a month and Corpse supposed that if they’d been there for that long then a few more days wouldn’t hurt. He had just closed the chute back up when Rae entered the room.

She seemed surprised to see him there but after quickly checking each of the doorways they found themselves alone for the first time since they boarded the ship.

“Are we really doing this?” She asked. He already knew what she was referring too.

“They’ve already found out. There’s no other way.”

“And the mission? We were meant to make it back to their base. Who knows if they’ve managed to do it yet? This was our only chance.”

“And we’ve blown it. There’s no way they would accept a ship into their base with hostiles on board, we’d never make it.”

“Unless they didn’t know there were hostiles on board.”

“Surely Leslie already sent a transmission-”

“No, she gave that task to me before she left Coms, and you know what happened to her.” Corpse shook his head in disbelief at their luck.

“Alright, we’ll see.”

“What do you mean ‘we’ll see’? I’m telling you we’ve got this.” She sounded so confident.

“Not until the rest of the crew are dead, we don’t. They could still catch us.”

“Yeah, and I’ll just follow you’re lead and we can slaughter them all in front of their very eyes! That won’t get us caught!” She snarled sarcastically.

Corpse didn’t take the bait. “That’s not ideal.”

“Neither is sleeping with one of them!”

“What are you talking about?” Now Corpse was confused.

“You! Cuddling up to that human!”

Corpse just looked at her in question.

“Oh, forget it! Let’s go.”

Corpse thought back on the night before, but he couldn’t remember anything unusual. They had all slept together but that couldn’t be what she was referring to, and the only person he cuddled? Well he had hugged Sykkuno… Maybe she was jealous? He didn’t think she was interested in him that way.

“Oh, hey guys!” They looked up to see Poki coming around the corner from Navigation.

“Hey Poki!” Rae said, all frustration gone from her voice. “Where did you come from?”

“I had to download some files in the cockpit, it took _fooor eeever_ ” Poki said stressing the words. She moved past them to another panel on the wall.

“Was anyone else with you? What are you doing going around by yourself?” Rae asked sounding sincerely concerned.

“Well, no. I was with Toast and Lily in shields but they both left before I was done. Besides, so long as I’m alone I won’t have to worry about anyone turning on me.” She shrugged.

This was their opportunity. They were the only one’s around and Poki confirmed that she was alone. No one would suspect them if they just left her for dead in this room. Corpse waited for Rae to act, even jerking his head towards her in a ‘go ahead’ fashion but she just shook her head and ignored him.

Corpse could see it. She felt guilty. She had pretended to be this woman’s sister for so long it had gone to her head, but Corpse wouldn’t let this opportunity pass.

Poki was still facing the panel on the wall when it was suddenly sprayed with blood, her hands falling limply away from the buttons, and her body dropped to the ground as the long, sharp protrusion retreated from her skull and snaked back into Corpse’s open mouth.

“What the fuck! You just- You just killed her!” Rae stuttered; eyes wide open in shock.

“Yes.” Corpse replied, staring her down. “Like you said, we slaughter them in front of their very eyes.”

“You Bastard!” She screamed her fingers tuning into sharp, elongated blades as she swiped at him. He dodged her attack, her claws digging into the wall instead. Corpse kicked her arm at an awkward angle hearing an audible snap and pushed her back against the wall, arm at her throat. Corpse was already stronger than her but with her being deprived of T’uith, she didn’t stand a chance. At any moment, if he so much as wanted to, he could turn his arm into a blade and decapitate her right then and there, but he needed her, and not this human sympathiser, the real her.

“We may be pretending, _Rae_ , but do not forget that you are not one of them. They stole from us. We are here to get it back and if that means killing every human we come across, we do it. Remember, if they ever find out what we are, they will not show mercy. They will kill you!”

She gave up her struggle, but the look of pure hatred never left her eyes. “Oh, don’t worry Corpse, I will kill every single one of them and I won’t let _anything_ stop me.”

Corpse nodded, happy. It was what he wanted from her, but he couldn’t overlook the sense that she was trying to get to him somehow. Without another word they left the area. Rae split from him in Cafeteria to head south while Corpse continued on to Med Bay.

He was about to turn into Med Bay when he noticed the door to the greenhouse was ajar. Usually the door would be locked to anyone but Sykkuno, so it being open set him on edge. He peered through the crack in the door only seeing Sykkuno in there, barely moving, and when he opened the door up further, the other still didn’t seem to notice.

It would be so easy, in this moment, to kill this human just like he’d done to Poki, straight through the head, quick and painless, but at the sight of Sykkuno gently brushing a finger over one of the flower’s petals, he couldn’t bring himself to end something so pure. Not yet. He still had use for this one, besides, he could do with an alibi at the moment.

Corpse took the chance to look around the small room. It was quite dark in the room, most of the lightbulbs that were normally used to imitate sunlight were dimmed down. He assumes it was to simulate his own planets lack of light for the slowly wilting plants that lined the walls. The room thrummed with the amount of power each of these Carriers possessed, even as faded as they were. There simply wasn’t enough of the T’uith left to keep them alive and with no Gthir to rejuvenate them, they weren’t going to last much longer. Corpse wondered if Sykkuno realised that it was because of him that the plants were dying so fast, that every time he entered the room the plants would offer him more energy at their expense to replace what Corpse had taken from him.

Corpse closed the door behind him with a soft thud that seemed to shock Sykkuno out of his absent state.

“Wha-? Ho-How did you get in here?” Sykkuno asked, backing away from him.

Corpse didn’t move from his spot, not wanting to give the man any more reason to fear him. “Just wanted to check on you… You left the door open.” Corpse said motioning to the now firmly shut door. “I can go if you don’t feel safe with me…”

“No- No. It’s fine.” Sykkuno said hurriedly. “You just… surprised me.”

Sykkuno looked away from him, staring fiercely at his plants while his face turned bright red. At his sudden change in colour Corpse grew worried before he remembered that this human was prone to blushing at any given moment.

“How are the plants doing?” Corpse asked to distract him.

“Umm…” His eyes met his for a moment before darting back to the plants seeming to finally register the question with a sigh. “Not great. I just- I don’t know.” At his defeated tone Corpse urged him to continue. “Well, I’ve tried replicating everything from the plant’s natural habitat, but nothing seems to help. They used to be such a bright blue but now look at them, even the petals have softened. I’m sure that’s not a good sign. And the only thing that seems to revive these plants is this serum-” He said holding up a vial of luminous blue liquid. At Corpse’s surprised gasp Sykkuno quickly said, “Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous.” But that wasn’t even close to what he was thinking.

They had known that the humans were trying to steal their Carriers and they recognised that that power, limited as it was, would be disastrous if it fell into the hands of the humans, but if they had managed to gather the essence of Gthir, that power would become limitless. How could the humans have extracted the essence unless… Sykkuno was the one to do it.

In his panic he had completely tuned out Sykkuno’s voice, only tuning back in when his subconsciousness recognised the term ‘replicate’. “Wait what did you say?” Corpse asked suddenly, cutting Sykkuno off mid-sentence.

“I said it doesn’t work.”

“What doesn’t work?”

“Th- the serum…” Sykkuno said, head tilted in confusion.

“This serum?” Corpse asked pointing to the Essence of Gthir still in Sykkuno’s hands.

“No, not this- Black, are you okay?”

“Nah, I’m fine, I must have just blanked out for a minute there.” Corpse lied.

“If it’s that boring, you don’t have to sit and listen to me.” Sykkuno said sadly.

“No, no, really it’s-” But what could he say? That the sight of something so powerful in his delicate hands had freaked him out so much that his mind had screeched to a halt? No, he couldn’t.

Sykkuno looked down, his mouth twitched up into a false smile. “Don’t worry, we should probably get back to doing our tasks anyway.”

Corpse nodded wordlessly and exited the room, Sykkuno following after him, leaving the serum just lying there on the bench.

They went into Med Bay because Sykkuno had a wires task in there and Corpse pretended to go and look at samples. He pressed the green button for the hell of it, causing all of the test tubes to fill up, but then the display told him to ‘Go grab a coffee’ with a countdown of 60 seconds so he went back and joined Sykkuno. He was struggling to connect the wires properly because the ends were so frayed. Hooked to the inside of the box was a wire stripping tool and Corpse passed it to Sykkuno wordlessly, but he just looked at him.

Corpse quickly realised that Sykkuno had absolutely no idea what he was doing so Corpse talked him through it.

“First cut the frayed part of the wire-”

“I know that part.” Sykkuno said severing the end of the wire with more pressure than necessary.

“Right, now use this part of the tool on the plastic and pull it away.” Sykkuno did what he said but somehow managed to cut the wire again, he got it on his second try though. “Now thread the ends back together- yeah, like that… and then twist- there you go!” He pat Sykkuno on the back and left him to do the other three wires by himself as Corpse checked back in on the samples.

The machine was now asking him to identify the anomaly. There was only one test tube that was a different colour to the rest. Instead of choosing the discoloured one, Corpse removed it from the machine and then selected one of the normal test tubes instead. The machine displayed the message ‘Bad result’ and Corpse wondered why he was required to identify an anomaly when the machine already knew which one it was. Either way, he was now holding a funky solution. Corpse spied a cup sitting on the bench a few metres away. Inspecting it further, there appeared to be a viscous brown liquid in it: Coffee. For the hell of it, Corpse decided to upend the contents of the anomalous test tube into the cup. Serves whoever right for drinking such a repugnant substance.

He made his way back to Sykkuno who had just closed the wires panel with a frown.

“I didn’t like that.” Sykkuno whined.

Corpse chuckled, “At least it’s done.”

“No, I have another in Admin.” His face was one of utter defeat which made Corpse laugh harder, they quickly agreed to go there next just to get it over and done with.

In the hallway, outside of Med Bay, they came across Sean and Grease who were also heading to Admin, so they all went together. Upon entering the room, they found Toast arguing with Felix.

“I’m sick of this, I have better things to be doing. Look, here! Four more people to watch you fail at a card swipe. Goodbye, everyone!” Toast hurried out the door and they all looked back at Felix.

“I just didn’t want to be alone.” He said childishly. “That man has no patience. I only failed it eleven times.” They watched him attempt it again with another negative beep and he practically collapsed on the table with a groan and a muffled, “I can’t do this!”

Grease stood by the door to run his upload and Sean moved over to the oxygen unit to run a diagnostics check. Sykkuno was beside Grease at the wires and Corpse decided to check the map. The map was interesting because it showed the number of people in each room but not who they were. It appeared to be tracking their vitals bands because he noticed that Poki wasn’t showing up in O2. He could also see how the map could be reprogrammed to view the detectors and show the imposters. He thought about just smashing the thing but that would be too obvious. Felix continued to fail at swiping his card and eventually Sykkuno was done with wires and moved beside Felix to cheer him on. Sean came over to study the map with Corpse and Grease had just finished his upload when the lights went out.

“Holy fuck! I can’t see a thing.” Grease said, moving over to where he knew Sean and Corpse were, around the table.

“I know, I can barely see my hands.”

“Black?” He heard Sykkuno whisper.

“I’m here.” He said, trying to exude calm. Corpse wanted to move beside Sykkuno but had he been human he wouldn’t have been able to see anything right now.

But he wasn’t human, and he saw clear as day how the vent slid open and Rae slipped out of it. She saw that he was there and eyed him darkly, her eyes glistening with her true form.

She moved silently in the darkness and Corpse wondered what she was waiting for. With four humans to choose from, surely she’d pick the closest and bolt back through the vent. But as she began to stalk to the far side of the room, Corpse realised that she already had a target in mind. Sykkuno!

As luck would have it, and he should really stop thinking of it as luck, Felix somehow managed to complete his card swipe in the darkness. He threw himself away from the table with a cry of happiness only to land in the path of Rae. He watched as Felix registered that there was someone there, or rather something. He let out a blood curdling scream before it turned into choked gurgles. His blood filling his lungs as ten needle-like claws punctured his chest. Rae didn’t stick around, moving straight to the vent as the others seemed to come to their senses long enough to press the emergency button. The flashing of the emergency lights barely helped them see but it was just enough for them to stumble to Felix’s body and watch, grief stricken, as he choked on his own blood, his eyes wide and terrified. Sean knelt beside him, running a hand over his face and through his hair, shushing him gently and telling him it would be alright. Finally, Felix let go and closed his eyes, his body completely still.

Corpse felt a strange sense of loss for this one. Not enough to tug a natural tear from his eye but still, he had saved this human over a month ago, and they had shown him nothing but gratitude. Now he was dead, and it was like he’d never saved him at all… Was it a loss? No, it was always going to come to this. Corpse didn’t know what he was thinking.

He looked at the other’s faces. Sean was openly weeping over the body, face pressed into the dead man’s chest with uncontainable sobs. Grease had tears in his eyes as well as he leant against the table map like it was the only thing holding him up. And Sykkuno was crouched on the floor, staring at Felix’s body, not registering this death too well either, but there were no tears this time. Corpse wasn’t sure if that was a good sign.

As gently as he could Corpse pulled Sean away from the body, at first, he held on even harder but after a few calming words he relented. Corpse got Grease to help him pick up the body, neither of them cared about the blood on their clothes. He nudged Sykkuno as he passed to make sure the other followed and Sean scurried beside them never letting go of his dead friend’s hand.

The cafeteria was by far the brightest room in the dark ship, the windows on the far side allowing just enough light in to make out where everything was. When they walked in the others jumped up about to reprimand them for taking so long and worrying them until they saw Felix’s body. Lily dropped to her knees and cried into her hands as she watched them place the body beside Leslie’s. Toast came up to a still dazed Sykkuno and lead him over to the table to sit down.

Rae watched Sykkuno go with murder in her eyes, she was lucky that nobody else could see so clearly in the dark. Though she did choose that moment to play her innocent card.

“Where’s Poki? Guys! Where’s Poki!?” She expressed her panic well with the way her voice rose and grew stressed. “I thought she would have been with you!”

Corpse didn’t want to answer her, he knew it wouldn’t end well if he did. She was angry at him and was bound to do something rash, but Sean was too busy grieving and Sykkuno wasn’t any better. Luckily Grease spoke up before he’d had to. “She wasn’t with us. I haven’t even seen her. I’m sorry.” He said genuinely.

As expected, Rae turned it on him. “And you?” Corpse just shook his head. Corpse was surprised that she left it at that but then she turned to Sykkuno and really Corpse should have expected that.

“Sykkuno?” But he didn’t acknowledge her. “Sykkuno!!”

She made to move towards him, but Toast stood to block her from Sykkuno.

She nearly growled at him. “I need to know where Poki is.”

“He doesn’t know.” Toast said without a doubt.

“Oh, and how do you know?”

“Because as far as I’m aware Lily and I were the last to see her-”

“Yes, and you left her ON HER OWN!!” She was furious. She made to get past Toast again, so Corpse spoke up.

“Sykkuno didn’t see Poki either.” Rae spun around and glared at him, but Corpse continued. “Poki left the Cafeteria to go South with Lily, Felix and Toast, right?” He asked looking around Rae at Toast. “And Sykkuno went West with Grease after Sean. After we left O2 we split up in Cafeteria and I found Sykkuno in his Greenhouse, he’d been with me ever since and neither of us saw Poki.”

Rae couldn’t argue with him there and she knew it. Instead she collapsed to the floor with a loud sob and let the tears come to her eyes. The others looked at each other uncomfortably. They all assumed the worst.

“We have to find her!” Rae sobbed out.

Sean looked up then and finally dragged himself away from Felix’s body. “Wait, there’s something else that we have to talk about first.”

“Yeah, like who killed Felix. It had to be somebody in that room with him.” Toast said.

“Who was in that room?” Lily asked.

“Black, Sykkuno, Sean and I.” Grease answered.

“Then how the hell do you not know who the killer is?” Toast asked sceptically.

“Because the lights went out. We couldn’t see anything in that room, at least not until the emergency lights came on.” Grease explained.

“So that’s four people. Surely we can narrow this down.” Toast said confidently.

Sean spoke up then. “It wasn’t anyone in that room.”

Toast looked at him confused, while Corpse was more surprised. “What do you mean. If there were only four other people in the room then surely it had to be one of you.” Toast stated like it was obvious.

“No. I only saw it in the last moment, just as the emergency lights came on, but there was something in the corner of the room, it disappeared through the vent but I’m absolutely sure it was there.”

Everybody paused for a moment to digest that information

“Is that even possible?” Lily whispered, more to herself.

“They’re aliens, more than that, they’re shapeshifters. We have to assume that human limitations mean nothing.” Corpse replied in a solemn tone.

“Well… now we know…”

It didn’t make them feel any better though, if anything, it just made the odds seem worse.


	5. One in Pursuit of Revenge-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapter! Pretty short compared to the last one but it ties into the next one so I'll put that one up in a day or so.  
> Urr... I'll admit, I struggled to edit this one. The scenes seem to last longer when you write them the first time.
> 
> Other notes:  
> When I wrote this I somehow mistook the Navigation wires panel for the download, but I'm not fixing it now.
> 
> That's all. Hope you like it!

Sykkuno couldn’t believe that it happened again. Why did it always seem like he was one step away from death no matter which way he turned. Felix didn’t deserve that fate, if anything it should have been him. He was nothing compared to Felix. Felix was funny and kind and just a joy to be around, he kept them together. He was the sun that shone when all the other stars were so very far away.

The survivor’s guilt tore away at his mind and clenched on his heart, but he was most upset that he couldn’t find it within himself to cry. It was like he was already dead, and this was his punishment. They had thought they were safe, with so many people in one room, but Sykkuno kept remembering the way Felix had cried out in celebration before it was brutally ripped away from him- it was sickening.

The room had been pitch black and all he could hear were the other’s hushed voices. Then the screaming, then the gurgling, then the crying. It kept playing over and over in his mind. He heard it all- was there for it all. He didn’t lose himself this time like he did the last time, but the clarity had only left him numb to himself.

He had followed them back and let Toast guide him to his seat, but he couldn’t make himself do anything else. He heard Rae crying for her sister. She thought that he would have known where she was, he didn’t, but his voice wouldn’t come out. Sean revealed that something had come out of the vent so at least it wasn’t anyone in that room and Sykkuno realised that not for a single moment had he thought anyone in that room could have done it anyway.

Behind him he could hear Rae crying. “We need to go find Poki.”

Eventually they all agreed, so long as they would go and turn the lights on first. There was no use trying to find anything in the slate blackness that was the bowls of the ship. They decided that all of them would stick together, going to Electrical to fix the lights before they would head in the direction of Poki’s last known location.

Sykkuno didn’t want to move, it was like his joints were too stiff to obey his mind and it took someone else dragging him up and moving him forward to finally get them loose again. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to retreat into his greenhouse and lock himself inside. He could surround himself with the comfort of his plants and just fall asleep on the floor. He could even drag Black in there with him just to listen to his deep, calming voice.

When Black walked in on him before he’d been so surprised. He’d thought for a moment that one of the killers had cornered him in his room. How could he have forgotten to close the door? When he’d realised that it was only Black, he’d calmed down a bit. The man had even offered to leave if he was uncomfortable, Sykkuno was glad he didn’t, although all of his thoughts had run straight back to remembering how he had woken up that morning which didn’t help his nerves at all.

He was still thinking about it now; waking up with a warm and comfortable weight surrounding him was as blissful as mornings could be. He remembered trying to stretch his stiff joints but then the weight had contracted around him, and he realised with a flush that it was Black’s arm wrapped around his waist that was keeping him from leaving. He’d felt so content and yet so embarrassed, and then he’d had to ask Grease to help him because the sleeping man just wouldn’t let him go... It still brought a bright blush to his cheeks, but the memory also warmed his aching heart. It was too dark to see his face anyway so nobody would notice.

Besides he didn’t think Black had meant anything by it, it was probably just a reflex to hold on to something as he slept. He certainly didn’t act any different that morning nor mention it later so Sykkuno guessed that he had no idea that he’d done it at all.

They had just entered Storage when Toast tugged him to a halt. They were at the back of the group, so the others didn’t notice and kept moving forward. Sykkuno looked to him in question but then he remembered the horrible scene of Leslie’s murder and shuddered. He silently thanked Toast; he wasn’t ready to see that again. Even though he knew he still had tasks to do in Electrical- just not yet.

The lights began to flicker on one at a time and they began to head down the opposite hallway. They popped their heads into Com’s as they passed, not seeing anything out of place, and entered Shields.

“It was just Lily, Poki and I. Felix never came this far.” Toast explained. “Lily and I left. She went into Electrical and I was then with Felix in Admin. When you guys arrived, I went Lower Engine where I found Lily and then the lights went out.”

“It’s most likely that Poki would have gone North from here.” Lily added.

They continued up the hallway from Shields and entered Navigation. Sykkuno stood outside in the hallway, in no way eager to find another body. He felt a bit guilty for already assuming that she was dead, but what other reason was there for her to not turn up in Cafeteria. Rae would still probably hate him for thinking that though.

Sykkuno was standing next to the Navigation upload panel and he wondered if he would be able to complete one of his tasks while they were here. He quickly banished the thought because that was a bit too inconsiderate and he hated himself for even thinking about it. He walked further away from the panel so that he wouldn’t be tempted too anyway and stopped at the far corner, still in sight from Navigation. He peered around the corner to where O2 was, they would be heading there next, when something caught his eye.

“Hey, Guys!” He called out as he walked towards it, not bothering to check if they had heard him.

He stopped when he reached the wall and ran his fingers over the deep grooves. There were five of them in a row in a wide arc coming down the wall. Where it ended there were two silver claw-like blades stuck so firmly into the wall that when Sykkuno attempted to pull one of them out, he only ended up cutting his hand open.

He noticed Toast next to him and turned to show him what he’d found but Toast was distracted by something else. Sean spotted it too and Sykkuno watched as he moved further into O2. Towards the back of the room there were a pair of legs that could only just be seen poking out from behind one of the benches.

Poki sat propped up against the wall. Her pale face was streaked with dried blood that had once flowed from the hole between her eyes. It looked like she had been shot, but surely they would have heard something, if that were true.

Sykkuno felt like he was numb to the loss now, whether that was a result of being so close to the last two murders or because he had already been expecting it, he couldn’t tell. Maybe it was because, of all the ways to die, this one looked the cleanest. A hole straight through the head. She wouldn’t have felt a thing.

They stood aside in silence as Rae approached the lifeless body of her sister. Her steps were slow, and her face bore a mask of eerie calm. Sykkuno could only imagine the grief that would be whirling like a tornado inside of her. She stopped before Poki’s feet and stared down at the body. Her eyes had grown wet with unshed tears and her fists were tightly clenched.

Lily attempted to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but Rae slapped it away. She turned abruptly and strode out of the room, her body taut with tension, and from the direction of the cafeteria they heard her scream. A loud crash followed but no-one was about to go in there and tell her to calm down.

It was a morbid silence that the others were left in. Grease and Sean elected to carry Poki’s body back to the cafeteria, but Lily insisted on cleaning her face first. She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and tried her best to wipe off some of the still drying blood. Meanwhile, Toast had moved back beside Sykkuno to get a closer look at the scratches on the walls and Sykkuno realised that Black had also come up behind him while he was distracted.

When Black began to reach for the claws, Sykkuno quickly pushed his hand away.

“It’s sharp.” Sykkuno said, showing him his cut-up hand.

Black frowned but was distracted by the other three passing them on their way out of the room with Poki’s body. “Lily? Are you done with that cloth?”

Lily looked down at the blood-stained handkerchief in confusion but handed it over without a word.

Black took the cloth and wrapped it around one of the claws, cushioning his grasp enough for him to gently pry it loose. He carefully handed the first blade to Sykkuno before doing the same for the second.

The silver claw was like a long, slightly curved blade, sharp enough to cut through the metal sheeting on the walls with ease. One end narrowed to a fine point, but the other side was ruptured from the break and the centre hollowed out like bone.

Black handed him the second claw and Sykkuno wrapped them up with the filthy handkerchief. He stuck them in his pocket before they moved back towards Cafeteria.

Sean and Grease had carried Poki’s body back into the cafeteria and laid her out next to the others.

Once they had all taken their respective seats around the centre table the interrogations began.

“So, who did it?” Toast started.

“Black, didn’t you say you were in O2?” Grease asked.

“I was. Me and Rae. We weren’t there for very long though.”

“Lily was alone for some time…” Added Toast.

“It wasn’t me!” Lily insisted.

“So was Sykkuno.” Rae said shortly, ignoring Lily. That shocked Sykkuno. The idea that any of them could think that he was a killer felt like a punch to the gut.

“Wait, no! I’m not a killer, guys. You know I wouldn’t hurt anyone, right?”

“No, I already said it couldn’t have been Sykkuno.” Black said, alleviating some of Sykkuno’s concern.

“Agreed, not Sykkuno.” Sean said, trying to make this as clear and concise as possible. “So, it could be Lily, Black or Rae- I really don’t think Rae would kill her own sister.”

“If she had really killed Poki then she wouldn’t be her sister.” Grease said darkly. “I think we’ve forgotten that, whichever of us they are, they are not the people we once knew, and they don’t hold the same values as they once did. Black was right when he said that human limitations mean nothing, well neither does family or friendship.”

“I! Would! Never!” She seethed. If looks could kill…

“Alright.” Sean said, hands splayed out in a calming gesture. “What about Felix? It wasn’t anyone in that room, so that leaves Toast, Lily and Rae. Where were you guys?”

“When the lights went off both Lily and I were in Lower Engine.” Toast said.

“And Rae?”

“I was in Coms.” She said. For a moment it looked like Toast would say something but whatever it was he kept it to himself.

“Okay, and Leslie?”

“Sykkuno and I were locked in Electrical.” Toast said.

“The rest of us were either still in Coms or went left, I think.” Grease said.

“God, it feels like so long ago, I can’t remember.” Lily said sadly.

“Alright, well there’s no point in waiting around. We have to get these tasks done soon, how far along are you guys?” Toast asked, already getting up from the table.

Sean said he only had two tasks left, same as Toast, and Grease, Rae and Black had three. Lily and Sykkuno still had five.

They were about to head off when Sean called out, “Wait! Guys, we have to stick together. The more we split up the less we have to work with when one of us…” He didn’t finish.

“Well, I need to go to Reactor.” Grease declared.

Sean raised his hand, “I’d like to go to Security as well, so I guess we should go together.”

“I’m going to Med Bay. Anyone want to come with me?” Lily asked.

“I will.” Black offered.

“My last tasks are in Weapons and I know Sykkuno hasn’t been over there yet.” Toast spoke for him.

Then Rae said, “Well, I’ve got some in Navigation, so I’ll join you.”

He didn’t really know why, but he had a bad feeling about Rae. It was a bit unfair though considering she had just lost her sister, but still, Sykkuno remised to say that he wanted to go with Black instead of Rae. The way Black was staring Rae down had Sykkuno wondering if maybe he felt the same way.

At least he had Toast.

The three of them exited Cafeteria into weapons and Toast moved to the far side to run the scanner for any objects blocking their path. Sykkuno moved to the top side to divert power from a low functioning source to one with a higher demand. Rae seemed to float around the room, just waiting for them to finish. Sykkuno finished his task as Toast fired up the ships guns to blast some of the debris out of their path. Sykkuno stayed beside him as he targeted the asteroids on the screen’s reticle and watched as they fell to harmless pieces that would only cause minimal damage to the ships shields when they eventually hit it. The whole time, Sykkuno avoided looking at Rae, but he could feel her gaze tunnelling into his back, setting him on edge.

They passed O2 with barely a look and headed straight for Navigation. Sykkuno waited for Rae to walk in and start her task before beginning his upload, he felt a lot better having Toast beside him.

“Sykkuno.” Toast said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“I think Rae is an imposter.” He said it so calmly that Sykkuno almost thought he’d misheard him. Sykkuno had already thought that something was off about Rae, but for her to be one of the imposters… it was possible. He left it at that though because Rae had just finished her task. His own went beep and he jumped again.

They worked their way down to Shields where Sykkuno finished all but two of his tasks and Toast lead them out towards Electrical. Sykkuno was too consumed with worrying about the scene of Leslie’s death to realise that a door had suddenly closed between him and Toast until he ran into it. Loud alarms began to blare throughout the ship, and he could barely hear Toast banging on the door but when he started yelling for Sykkuno to run, Sykkuno remembered that Rae had been following behind him.

Fear chilled him to the bone and he slowly turned around to find Rae grinning at him cruelly. “You better do what your friend says.” As she spoke her mouth began to turn upwards and stretch across her face. Her lips parted, no longer able to contain her elongated teeth. Her fingers extended into long sharp claws and they scraped along the wall as she took a step towards him. It was too horrible and terrifying to watch the person he once knew morph into something so unnatural.

The misshapen alien swiped lazily at him, and his body acted on instinct to get away from it, ducking around the sharp claws and bolting back down the hallways towards Weapons. That was when the real chase began. Rae flung herself after him, her claws clanging against the metal walls sending spikes of fear and adrenaline through him as he ran. He skidded around the corner, his shoes barely gripping the floor and he narrowly avoided getting stabbed in the head as those claws buried themselves into the wall just inches above him. She screeched at him, her vocal cords creating sounds unnatural to his ears. He clamped his hands over them tightly, but it still made him dizzy and he stumbled around the next corner. He passed the entrance to Navigation and had nearly made it to Weapons when Rae’s body slammed into his and crushed him into the floor.

He couldn’t move. He was trapped under Rae as she laughed at him. “God, I hate you!” She said, slavering over him. “He acted all high and mighty when he killed Poki but I bet he doesn’t realise that he’s the same with you.” He couldn’t understand what she was saying, too terrified of the fangs inches from his face and he shivered as her saliva dripped through her teeth and onto his face. “You were special to him just a Poki was special to me and yet Corpse thinks he can keep his?” She shook her with a smile that only looked frightening with her too sharp teeth. “Oh, no. That’s not how this works. If Poki had to die, then so do you. We’re going to ruin his day!”

The needle like claws hovered over his face as if tracing where she planned where to cut him, wondering, “How to make the biggest mess…?” They were the same claws he had found in the wall that were currently wrapped up in his back pocket. With the arm she wasn’t holding down Sykkuno managed to slowly reach into his back pocket and withdraw the wrapped claws. As carefully as he could he teased one of the claws out of the fabric- Rae sliced him then, from his forehead down the bridge of his nose causing him to jerk and cry out in pain. The wound stung and blood began to seep into his eyes. “Oops. Let me try that again!”

Before she could do any more damage, he grabbed the exposed claw, uncaring of how it bit into his skin, and thrust it straight into Rae’s chest. She threw herself backwards away from him and clasped her chest around the wound with a loud groan of pain. She kept her eyes on him as she reached for the silver claw and slowly started to pull it from her chest. Sykkuno didn’t wait another second. He sprinted though Weapons and barely made it into Cafeteria when the door slammed shut behind him. A loud _BANG!_ had the door shuddering at the weight thrown against it from the other side.

Sykkuno scrambled to the other side of Cafeteria in the direction he knew the others had gone, but these doors were shut too. He screamed and pounded on them with his fists, trying to get someone’s attention, eventually they opened and Sykkuno stumbled though. He glanced behind him across the cafeteria, but he couldn’t see any sign of Rae. He thought of just hiding away in his greenhouse, but he knew that he had to tell someone. The reactor had just gone off, so that was probably where they all were.

He had just entered Upper Engine when warm arms enveloped him from the front, and he was pressed into the familiar scent of Black. He sighed in relief practically falling into his arms. Here he was safe. The enormous amounts of tension left him, and he buried his face further into that bodily heat.

At least, until he heard that unearthly, deep voice growl, “Rae.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, let me know if it seems like I've missed something. I go back and change things and then completely forget what I was doing... My brain hurts.


	6. -Should Dig Two Graves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad you guys liked the cliffhanger \\(^0^)/ but don't worry, I won't keep you in suspense.
> 
> Be aware: overlapping timeline.
> 
> I should also note that I approached each of the interrogations strictly by memory. I knew a few things that some people would take note of but general information is based off what I remembered at the time of writing this. Anything that isn't said or mentioned is just something that the characters would have forgotten or otherwise dismissed.
> 
> Hope you like- nah, I'm not gonna say that.

Corpse watched as Toast, Sykkuno and Rae disappeared in the opposite direction. He didn’t like it. There was no way Rae didn’t use this opportunity to do something… It was obvious that Rae was targeting Sykkuno, and it was obvious that it was because of him, but why? He should have made him come with the rest of them, just to keep him safe by his side. Fuck the tasks, they wouldn’t be completing them anyway.

But he had let him go. He followed Lily down the hallway and cursed every minute of it. When she went into Med Bay Corpse stood by the door for a few moments surveying the room before moving towards Upper Engine. He was so keyed up that he couldn’t have faked a task if he tried. He waited for only a few moments thinking over his options before he headed down to Security where the other two were. When he walked into Security, he found Sean already seated at the cameras.

“Aren’t you meant to be sticking with Lily?” Sean asked him warily. From the top right screen Corpse could see the other three making their way through the hallways and into Navigation. Sykkuno stopped at a panel just in range of the camera, Toast poking back out to join him after a moment.

Sean shook his head with a smile even as Corpse answered. “She’s in Med Bay, I’ll be able to see anything suspicious from here.” He said gesturing to the screen on the bottom right.

Sean raised an eyebrow. “Sure, sure.”

Fuck, he wasn’t buying it… “Besides, I wanted to ask you something.” Corpse improvised, thinking of something off the top of his head.

“Go ahead.”

Corpse knew it was a sensitive topic, so he started off softly, “When we were in Admin you said you saw a creature before it disappeared into the vent. Could you describe it at all?”

Sean looked pained, “It wasn’t the best look, and flashing red lights can distort things like that but I believe it was mostly humanoid but it had huge fingers- or maybe they were claws- and it’s eyes, I don’t know, they were weird. Why? Does that tell you anything?”

“Not really, but your voice tells me you’re not making it up.” Corpse said with a grin.

“Oh, you sly bastard!”

Sykkuno, Toast and Rae were now on their way further down the halls and when they left the view of the camera Corpse grew even more anxious. He could always run down there and act like he’d just lost Lily, but he doubts he’d get out of that one easily.

A few minutes later the ship’s alarms went off, not the fire alarm, but the reactor. Grease ran into the room with a frown on his face but didn’t seem to care that Corpse was there. “Rotten fucking timing, huh?” He said to them both. He turned to Sean, “You mind assisting? It’s not hard, just need you to press a button when I say so.” Sean nodded and left Corpse in charge of the cameras.

From watching the security screens Corpse knew that Lily had yet to leave Med Bay, he wasn’t sure what was taking her so long, but it worked in his favour. He had noticed the vent in the med bay the last time he was there with Sykkuno. If he was lucky, the one just behind him should join up there. With the reactor trying to blow up and Sean and Grease completely distracted he allowed his natural form to come out only enough for him to be able to manoeuvre himself in such a tight space.

His joints were far more flexible in this form, his bones like his tongue, could soften and harden, to an extent of course, but enough to make human contortionists look like a joke. He folded himself into the tight space of the vent and pushed himself forward in the direction of the med bay. It wasn’t comfortable at all, he much rather liked spreading himself out than shoving himself into a more condensed form than he already was.

He made it to Med Bay and peered out from below the grate. He found Lily looking over at some of the medical papers, before crossing the room to the scanner to try to recalibrate it. He slipped soundlessly from the vent and came up behind her. His tongue lashed out wrapping around her frail neck, and with a quick flick, her neck snapped, and he lowered her gently to the ground. He quickly slid back into the vent and was back in front of the cameras by the time Sean came back in.

“Hey, got anything?” Corpse shook his head. “Well, Grease and I are gonna go down to Lower Engine. See you later.”

Corpse turned back to the cameras in time to see Sykkuno stumbling into the hallway in front of Med Bay. He looked panicked, glancing back behind himself as if expecting something to be there and when he turned back Corpse could see the blood trailing down his face.

He was out of his seat in an instant, sprinting up the hallway towards him. He practically collided with the other man, bringing his arms around his back, holding him close as he saw Rae’s distorted figure approaching from behind him. Sykkuno was shaking from fright and was clearly injured, stuttering out words that he couldn’t string together properly, but even as Corpse held him, he felt the man relax in his arms. This fragile human put so much faith in him. He trusted him, relied on him, believed it of him so much so that Corpse felt an overwhelming need to prove it. He couldn’t let Rae get to him.

Keeping Sykkuno pressed against him so that he wouldn’t be able to see, he allowed his horns to extend above his head and he held one arm out, fused into a single blade, and pointed it at Rae. His natural eyes flashed at Rae’s in challenge. “Rae.” He said, his voice infused with power. Sykkuno froze in his hold but he didn’t pull away. _The trust…_ It blew Corpse’s mind and ran through his blood like a drug; one taste and he was already addicted.

Rae said nothing but took another step towards them, her claws ready and her teeth unfurled. She nodded towards Sykkuno in a ‘go ahead’ fashion, the same direction he’d given her for Poki… Corpse realised that she already knew he couldn’t kill Sykkuno. She knew she would have to do it herself. She was trying to play him. If she attacked Sykkuno now, Corpse would have to choose whether to reveal himself in order to protect him or let him die. But if he revealed himself, there’s no way Sykkuno wouldn’t tell the others and so in order to continue their mission he would have to kill him anyway. Rae was playing a dangerous game and she’d just checked him. But Corpse had one more move left.

He pushed the button and the fire alarm blared above their heads. Corpse fought to contain his horns before Sean and Grease burst into the room on their way up from Lower Engine. Rae had managed to contain herself as well but that wouldn’t help her now. He moved Sykkuno so that he was mostly hidden behind him before he addressed the others.

“Rae is an imposter.” Corpse said calmly. _Checkmate._

Rae looked at him, mouth agape and eyes wide at his betrayal. “What?”

Sean looked at him with doubt in his eyes but drew his gun and aimed it at Rae.

“What? No, I’m not! What the fuck, Black?” Rae yelled in shock.

Corpse ignored her, “I saw Rae come out of Med Bay, a room I never saw her enter.”

“What? You’re lying! That’s bullshit! I did not!” Rae spurted out.

Sean lowered his gun, “I’m going to need a better reason than that.”

“Lily hasn’t come out yet.” Was all Corpse said.

Realisation hit him and he aimed his gun back on Rae and motioned for Grease to check the room. “Let’s move into Cafeteria. I don’t want to do this here.”

He motioned for Rae to stay ahead of them before they followed after her. As they passed Med Bay, they could see Grease checking Lily’s body for a pulse.

They found Toast pacing around the table waiting for them to arrive and at the sight of Sykkuno he ran over and pulled him into a fierce hug, “Thank God, you’re alive!”

Corpse thought he should probably thank this human deity as well. The cut down Sykkuno’s face spoke of how close the man had come to dying at Rae’s hands.

Grease entered the room then, the body of Lily lying slack in his arms. At his grim look they knew she was gone.

“So, Rae _is_ the imposter.” Sean said more than asked. He seemed resigned to the fact.

“Agreed.” Grease said, lying Lily’s body down on the bench. There was no more room on the table.

Corpse and Sykkuno nodded as well.

“You guys knew too?” Toast asked, surprised.

“Wait, so all of you knew that she was an imposter except for me? Was there something obvious I missed?” Sean asked, upset that he had failed to identify the threat that was apparently obvious.

“Don’t worry, Sean,” Sykkuno said, “I didn’t know either until she attacked me.”

“Oh, God.” He gasped, looking at Sykkuno’s face, only now seeing the horrific cut that ran from his forehead and down his nose. “How?”

“I- I don’t know. She changed. She had long claws and sharp teeth…” Sykkuno shuddered.

“So, how did you guys figure it out?” Toast asked them.

“I saw her coming out of Med Bay where Lily was, but I was in Security that whole time and I never saw her go in.” Corpse explained. “Now Lily’s dead… It couldn’t be anyone else.”

“No, I didn’t!” She stressed but no one was listening to her.

“I actually had a different reason.” Grease spoke up, coming over to them. “I needed to go to Reactor because I knew that the plans of the ship were stored there. While we were all in Admin, Toast and Lily both said they were on the left side of the ship and Rae said she was in Coms. I checked the locations of all the vents and where they linked up. If Sean was right and something came from the vents, it could only have been Rae, because the only vents that join up to Admin is the one in the hallway above Shields or the one in Cafeteria.” He spread the plans out on the table for them all to see.

“I also thought it was suspicious that Rae would have ended up in Coms.” Toast said. “Because the most direct route from O2 are the hallways on the right where she would have run into Poki. I was even more suspicious this time when she came with me and Sykkuno and claimed to have a task in Navigation. Black you were with her in O2, did anything happen?”

“No, we walked back into Cafeteria and split up here, I thought she went South.”

“Well I don’t think she did, or at least she wanted you to think she did. We never saw her in Admin, so it was a weird route to take. I think she doubled back and killed Poki in O2 before heading to Coms until the lights went out.”

“I didn’t kill Poki! I would never kill Poki! And I didn’t kill Lily! He’s lying!” They looked at her for a moment, considering her words.

“But you don’t deny killing Felix or Leslie?” Grease asked.

“I didn’t kill anyone!” Rae cried. “I’m not an imposter!”

“Guys, what if she isn’t?” Sean asked quietly.

“No! You can’t listen to her! She attacked me! She nearly killed me!” Sykkuno begged.

“There’s no way she isn’t.” Grease said. “Whether or not she killed Poki or Lily, there was no way anyone else could have killed Felix. If you are sure that something came out of that vent, then it was Rae.”

“Your description of what you saw even matches up to what Sykkuno said.” Black added.

Sean nodded, more confident in his decision. “Alright, how do we do this?”

“No, no, no, no…” Rae was weeping now. She was on the floor with her head on her knees, shoulders shaking from her sobs. She was trying to garner their sympathy, but now that they were confident that it was her, no amount of tears would convince them otherwise.

“We could just shoot her.” Grease suggested with a shrug.

“No, throw her out.” Sykkuno said. “I stabbed her in the heart with one of her own claws and it didn’t do anything.”

“It fucking hurt!” She barked.

They stared at her.

She had given up. They weren’t going to spare her, and she knew it, so what was the point of keeping up the act.

“Alright, get up.” Sean said, keeping his gun trained on her. “We’re going to the air-lock.”

Rae got up languidly, following along with their orders. As they walked, she allowed herself to revert into her natural form. She was far paler than her human had been, taller too, roughly the same size as Corpse as a human. Her dark hair twisted and curled around four long silver horns that protruded from the back of her head, and Corpse knew that her eyes would be their true colour.

He should have felt guilty that he had helped the human’s expose her, but each time he looked at Sykkuno’s scarred face he felt the anger boil up again and he wished he could throw her in the airlock himself. It was her own fault anyway. She had been too careless and overconfident, and when they were meant to be working together, she’d turned against him.

They reached the airlock and Grease allowed the machine to scan his hand to open it up. When the inner door was open Sean nudged Rae forward with his gun, but she didn’t move.

“I just want to say that I find it sad that my fellow imposter had to throw me to the humans.” She had her back turned to them so there was no way to tell who she was talking too, “Mark your own words, do you really think he won’t do the same to you?”

Corpse gritted his teeth, wishing they’d just fling her out of the ship already before she does any more damage. He’s sure that the only reason she’s holding her tongue at all was because of the importance of their mission, otherwise she would have dragged him down with her.

“To the rest of you, know this: the only one I killed was Felix.” Corpse hated her. Of course, she was going to make it difficult for him.

“And Poki.” Sykkuno asserted.

“I DID NOT KILL POKI!!!” Rae screamed rounding on him. The others all tensed.

“Yes, you did! Those claw marks on the walls were yours!” Sykkuno insisted. He scrambled in his pocket searching for something, but he couldn’t find it. “Black, you remember those claws that we pulled out of the wall? They were yours, Rae! I know they were yours!”

“Aaaargh!!” Rae growled, losing her patience. “YOU TRAITOR!!!”

Before Corpse could react, she lunged, not at Corpse, but at Sykkuno, digging her claws into his stomach and ripping them out of his side. Sykkuno screamed in pure agony and Corpse saw red. He grabbed Sykkuno and pulled him away from Rae at the same time kicking out with inhuman strength, his foot collided with her chest and she stumbled back into the airlock. She was about to launch at them again, but Sean fired his gun at her head, keeping her back and Grease slammed the inner door closed. The outer door opened, and Rae was sucked into the endless void.

Without even sparing his comrade a last look Corpse grabbed Sykkuno, who was bleeding profusely from his side. He rushed back through Cafeteria and into Med Bay placing Sykkuno down carefully on a bed. Toast was the next in the room and Corpse yelled for him to keep pressure on the wound. He threw open all of the cabinets trying to find something- anything that could close up such as large gash.

“He’s lost too much blood. Black, I don’t think-” Toast started but the look Corpse sent him was scathing and he quickly shut his mouth.

He looked around seeing the samples that he had fucked with earlier. That wouldn’t help him, but it did remind him of another vial that was sitting on a bench in the other room.

He ran back to Sykkuno who looked up at him, unseeing. He wasn’t going to last much longer. Corpse had to be quick. He ripped Sykkuno’s access card of off his tag and ran out of the room. Across the hall he threw the door open and barged in, uncaring of the delicate plants that he pushed out of the way. He grabbed the luminescent vial and sprinted back to the med bay.

“Black, he’s not breathing.”

He didn’t care, he opened the stopper and poured all of it into Sykkuno’s slack mouth. He couldn’t be gone yet. He could save him. He was a Carrier, it had to work! When the vial was empty Corpse left his side long enough to grab a needle and thread. He pushed Toast carelessly away and took his place trying to stop as much of the bleeding as he could.

“Black, he’s dead!” Toast yelled trying to shake sense into him, but Black wasn’t listening to him anymore. His only thoughts were of doing anything he could to help Sykkuno push through.

Toast had kept insisting that Sykkuno was gone but eventually he gave up on dragging Corpse away from the body. He had tugged the other two -which Corpse hadn’t even realised were there- out of the room as well and they had left him alone to come to terms with things.

Corpse didn’t know how long he stayed there. He had finished stitching up the wound and had wrapped it up with a bandage but now he was lost. He watched Sykkuno closely waiting for any sign of life, a flutter of the eyelashes or a twitch of the fingers, but nothing came. He traced a finger lightly over his face, tracing his lips and his brows, the cut down his nose. His eyes wandered over every piece of perfection and he wondered when he had begun to realise this feeling for what it was. Was it when he had caught him, running for his life away from Rae, when he had clung to him so tightly and trusted him with his life? Or perhaps it was when he had blushed and shied away from him in the greenhouse and Corpse had feared for a moment that he was ill. Or even before that whenever they would touch, sometimes when he didn’t even yearn to absorb the T’uith but he still did it because he was intrigued by the way the other reacted. Maybe it was from the moment they had first met eyes across the battlefield, through the agony and violence, he had the thought that this human was different.

Whatever it was, whenever it happened, Corpse knew now that he loved this human.

Corpse lay with his head on Sykkuno’s chest, listening for his heart, waiting for a breath, but the first sign of life he was given was neither of these. It was so subtle at first that it washed over Corpse without him realising it. A gradual warmth that called to him. It was only when his own mind called out to absorb this warmth that Corpse recognised it as T’uith. He didn’t dare too though, not until he knew Sykkuno was better.

The next sign he was given was the soft beating of his heart. It was slow, too slow, but it was there where it previously wasn’t so Corpse held out hope. Over the next hour or so, Sykkuno’s heart began to pick up the pace. It was almost to the normal resting rhythm of a human when Corpse noticed his eyes begin to flutter. He was a bit on edge though because Sykkuno still wasn’t breathing and he knew that humans had to do that to survive.

He checked on the gash in Sykkuno’s side and found that it had mostly healed, and the cut on his face was now nothing more than a faint scar, and that too would probably fade away. He had just rewrapped his side with a fresh bandage when Sykkuno awoke with a gasp.

Corpse stood up beside him and held him down firmly until Sykkuno stopped struggling against him and took a moment to recognise where he was and who was keeping him pinned to the bed. He looked confused for a moment; a rush of emotion played upon his face but when his mind appeared to calm down, he looked up at him worried.

“W- Wht-” He coughed, and Corpse ran to the sink to get him a glass of water. He helped Sykkuno sit up and brought the glass to his lips. After a few good mouthfuls Sykkuno pushed the glass away and tried again. “Wha-t happ-ened t- Rae?”

“Don’t worry, she’s gone.” He said, trying to get him to drink more water.

“Th- others?” He asked.

“They’re fine.” Or at least they should be, he hadn’t seen them since they’d left. “I can go get them if you want.”

“In a min-te.” He said clearing his throat. He looked down at his injured side, but it was all bandaged up, “Is it bad? I didn’t think I would survive.”

“It’s fine. In fact, I could probably pull the stitches out.” Corpse said as he began to unwrap the bandage again. “Actually, I think you’ve dissolved them.”

“Wait, what!?” Sykkuno looked down at the wound. Where there had once been a gaping hole in his side there was now only a few shallow cuts and some discolouration of the skin. “How long was I out for?”

“A day, maybe?”

“Oh?” Sykkuno looked surprised. Corpse briefly wondered how Rae had managed to keep herself injured during the first couple of weeks when this sort of healing was apparently irregular.

“I was surprised myself.” He said instead.

“Holy Fuck!”

They both looked to the doorway where Toast was standing with a tray of food in his hands. He stared at Sykkuno half in wonder and half in horror, not really knowing what to make of his previously dead friend now up and chatting. His mouth opened and closed but he couldn’t seem to find the words.

“Hello, Toast.” Sykkuno said as if it were any other morning.

“Y-You’re alive?” He stuttered out, looking more at Corpse when he said it.

“I don’t think so. I can’t be.” Sykkuno said softly.

“You’re alive.” Corpse said firmly.

“No, I’m pretty sure this is heaven. Though why heaven is this ship, I don’t know.” He looked at Corpse, “Does that mean you’re an angel?”

Toast burst out laughing then. The plate of food was left lying on the floor as he crouched on the ground, his hands covering his face as he laughed and cried at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who worried about Toast; he was pretty much stuck in storage that whole time.  
> As for Rae's pathing, she went back to the hallway vent to try to get into Cafeteria while Sykkuno was trapped in there.  
> When the doors opened she was out of his view because she was below sight from the doorway.
> 
> XX


	7. Catch and Throw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sensitive about this chapter. I'm sure you will be too.
> 
> This chapter is the pinnacle of me bullshitting science.  
> I edited this to the sounds of smooth jazz... do not recommend...  
> I love Grease. Fun Fact: I first came to know this group from watching Charlie's videos.
> 
> Notes:  
> -Blatant disregard for the tasks in the Reactor. Read: I hate Simon Says.  
> -I'm afraid there might be a bit of OOC in this chapter... But that's what you get when you push your characters to their limits. They break.
> 
> Also, I love reading what you guys think is about to happen. I can only hope the written events are satisfactory all the same.  
> Enjoy! (0_0)/~

He had awoken with a jolt. There wasn’t any sense of where or who or what or why, but he knew that he was in danger and he had to move but there was pressure on his shoulders stopping him, keeping him there where it wasn’t safe. His side burned from the memory and the pain seemed to bring his consciousness back to the present and he realised that he was lying down. He was in a room, and a man was standing over him… no, Black was standing over him and he was in the med bay… he was lying on a bed and Black was holding him down and his side was burning, and his side was _really_ burning, Oh!

It all came back to him then. Rae stalking him, the interrogation, Rae attacking him, the tearing of his skin as those claws sank into his stomach and ripped him open… Then black… The next thing he knew he was lying in a bed with Black staring down at him telling him he had pretty much recovered? No, he had to be dead.

But then Toast came into the room, breaking down as he saw his friend alive. Then Grease and Sean had come in as well, having heard the commotion from the cafeteria and now they were all crowded around Sykkuno’s bed as he sat up with his legs over one side, completely dumbfounded at the sight of his horrifically fatal wound now nothing more than a garish scab.

“Do either of you want to explain how the fuck this is possible?” Toast asked but Sykkuno was as lost as he was. There was absolutely no way he could have survived such a fatal injury, so what could Black possibly have done? There were very few ideas that popped up in his head and none of them were good. It set Sykkuno on edge, but he waited nervously for Black to prove his brain wrong.

“Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’m really fucking happy, but what the fuck happened?” Sean said, his accent thick with emotion.

“Umm, I don’t really know…” Black admitted.

“I think I remember you pouring something blue in his mouth.” Sean pushed.

“Yeah, it was a bit of a gamble…”

“Blue?” Sykkuno asked confused. _Blue...?_

“I got that serum from your Greenhouse.”

Sykkuno felt his stomach drop.

“Wait… which one?” He asked, crossing his fingers, surely Black hadn’t meant the Minov’er Trim. Not the substance that was pinnacle to his studies, that he only had so much of, that their friends had died to help him obtain.

“The real one.” Black answered carefully as if he knew what that meant to him. Sykkuno realised that he probably did. Any other time he would have been happy that Black had actually listened to him, but now it only burned him.

“What? No! Where is it? Is there any left?” Sykkuno rose from the bed and moved towards Black grabbing at his shirt with pleading eyes. “Please tell me you didn’t use it all!”

Black remained silent. Sykkuno let go of him, stepping back, he couldn’t look at him anymore, his chest hurt too much.

“That… That was the only sample we had left! Without it-” Sykkuno felt lost. All his efforts up until now had been for naught. The things they could have learnt… The fact that he was alive in this moment proved that that serum had more capabilities than Sykkuno could have ever predicted and yet they had lost it so that he could live even while all of their friends had died. He didn’t feel worthy of that.

“What was I meant to do? Let you die?” Black hissed.

“Yes.” He said quietly.

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

Sykkuno looked away, his hands balled into fists as he blurted out, “Without the serum, those plants will die just like all of the others prior and we would’ve failed to learn anything. Our friends died so that I could obtain those samples and I still haven’t even come close to replicating that serum. I knew that it would be important, and you wasted it on me. You couldn’t have even known it would work! And if it didn’t, it would have all been for nothing. We would have lost it for nothing. So, yes. You should have let me die.”

Black’s gaze turned fierce with anger and warning, “No!”

“Look, Black, I know that you don’t care about the serum or the plants but-” The sight of Black stalking towards him caused his sentence to drop off.

One hand gripped his uninjured side, the other went to his hair and firmly pulled his head back to look at him. Black pressed their foreheads together so that Sykkuno had no other choice but to look into his heated, unrelenting gaze.

“You’re right, I don’t care.” He said hoarsely. His voice was felt more than heard. “I don’t give a shit about some stupid plants and I don’t give a fuck about anyone on this ship. But I do care about you. I didn’t waste anything if it means you’re alive and here standing before me. Even if it is just to hate me, I’ll take it. But I will not let you die!”

He spoke with so much conviction that Sykkuno felt weak in comparison. The power that this man held over him made him flush, but it wasn’t from embarrassment. He couldn’t help it as his gaze dropped to Black’s thin lips, and his body thrummed with want. He wanted to taste so badly. How easy it would be to push himself closer, to brush their noses together as their lips parted and slid against each other…

But Black pulled away.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve got shit to do and an alien to catch, so I’ll be off.” Black refused to look at him again as he stormed out of the med bay.

At the sight of Black heading East, Sean yelled out for him to wait up and scrambled to catch up to him.

Sykkuno collapsed onto the nearest bed and buried his face into the covers. His mind was a complete mess, he wondered if that was a common symptom of returning from the dead. He couldn’t believe he’d done that. Black had just saved his life and all he did was condemn him for it. He felt so bad.

“Why am I so horrible? He hates me now.” He mumbled into the sheets.

“As if he could.” Grease said, trying to pick up his mood.

“Of course, he could. How could I have said that? He’d saved my life and I couldn’t even say thank you. I was too busy worrying about some stupid plants that are already dying and a serum that I could hardly understand let alone replicate.”

“I’m sure he understands why you’re upset.”

Sykkuno just shook his head.

“Did you know that he was utterly convinced that you would live?” Grease spoke up and Sykkuno immediately raised his head in surprise. “It was like the thought of you dying hadn’t even occurred to him. He’d been so sure, even as your heart stopped beating and there was no sign of you coming back. He still sat there for hours waiting for you. We’d all thought he’d gone crazy, but whatever he gave you, it worked a miracle.”

Sykkuno looked up at him just as confused and lost as he was before. “I just don’t know why he would have thought that the serum would help. Like sure, it revives the plants in the greenhouse, but to then presume it could heal a human, that’s a big difference.”

“Yeah, _big_ difference.” Toast agreed with a funny look. “I guess he knew it healed, and you were already dead...? Suspicious though.”

Grease shrugged, “Desperate people do desperate things.”

“I guess, I can see that. He’s a good friend.” Sykkuno smiled.

“You-” Grease started but paused looking at Toast, confounded, but Toast just shrugged. “Oh my God.” He sighed heavily. “Completely fucking oblivious I swear.” He muttered to himself.

Toast jumped up then, seeming eager to get out of the room, “We should probably get going and finish these tasks. I know Sykkuno’s got one in Electrical, what about you Grease?”

“I have to go back to Reactor to finish my last task.” He answered.

“I have one there as well.” Sykkuno announced. “So, we should go there before heading to Electrical.”

Toast huffed in agreement and turned away, beginning to walk towards Reactor.

Sykkuno and Grease trailed behind Toast. Sykkuno wished Toast would turn around and face him. They needed to talk about this. It was obvious that the other man was uncomfortable with this turn of events and Sykkuno just wanted the reassurance that they were alright. He’d seemed so happy to see him at first but now his friend was keeping his distance.

Sykkuno noticed that Grease kept glancing at him as if trying to figure him out. The next time the shorter man peaked at him Sykkuno stared at him with an eyebrow raised hoping he’d explain himself. But Grease only smiled cheekily, looking away again.

They entered Reactor and Sykkuno took a good look around. The Reactor was one of the tallest rooms in the ship and Sykkuno never really had a reason to enter it before, so it was mostly unfamiliar to him.

Sykkuno stayed with Toast by the entrance while Grease immediately went over to the reactor, checking a few of the gauges before moving up to the screens on the upper wall. He pressed a few buttons and one of the caps to the reactor popped open and a cannister poked out. He pulled it out and leant it up against the wall before grabbing a new one from the rack and shoving it back in. The reactor began to beep, and Grease quickly checked on the screens again before the it appeared to accept the new cannister and a loud whooshing started up.

Sykkuno took a step closer to Toast at the sudden onslaught of noise, but Toast jolted away from him. Sykkuno looked up at him, confused, but his friend said nothing, moving back out of the room and over to Security. _He just needed time._

Sykkuno turned his attention back to the reactor. He didn’t like being so close to something that was notoriously temperamental; if what Grease and Black had been saying for the past month held any truth. They usually entered the cafeteria for lunch with a new update on the likelihood of the reactor blowing up that day.

As if hearing his thoughts, Grease looked back at him with a grin. “Don’t worry! It’s _not_ meant to be this noisy!” He laughed.

That certainly didn’t help him at all, but he figured if Grease could laugh in the face of an impending explosion then it couldn’t be too bad.

Sykkuno moved cautiously to the other side of the reactor as the whooshing sound began to die down. He approached a receptacle that had a page of digits and acronyms taped to the top of it. The acronyms appeared to be names of chemicals that were stored on a table nearby and the numbers were how many millilitres to add of each one. The display flashed with the first chemical: Coroxium. He found the bottle labelled ‘Coroxium’ and poured out three millilitres into a beaker before pouring that into the receptacle. The machine appeared to sputter for a moment and then the loud whooshing sound started up again. Sykkuno whirled around to find that Grease had loaded another canister into the reactor.

Grease waved to him casually as if he hadn’t just scared Sykkuno half to death and carried on until the whooshing abated once more. “Sorry, I’ll warn you for the next one.” He apologised.

Sykkuno turned back to the receptacle again and this time the display read: Imadiethium. He had just found the labelled bottle when Grease spoke up again. “So, you and Black seem pretty close.”

“Umm, yeah.” He murmured more focused on measuring out exactly two millilitres. “We’ve become good friends.”

“Just friends?”

“Best friends?” Sykkuno said more as a question, what else would they be.

“Oh, come on. Best friends don’t look at you like you hung the moon.” Grease scoffed.

“What do you mean? He doesn’t look at me like that.” Sykkuno insisted.

“No, you’re right. Sometimes he looks at you like you’re his first meal in a week.”

“I really don’t thin-”

“And sometimes you look at him the same way.” That pulled him up short. The colour red taking over his face.

“Wh- Wha- no. No, that’s not. No. He’s just a good friend. A _really_ good friend. And there’s no way he would think that. Why would you think that?”

“Oh, well, other than the way that he watches you like a hawk? Then perhaps the way that he is so overprotective when it comes to you. The way he cuddles you in his sleep, or maybe just the fact that he refused to leave your side when you were _quite_ dead.”

“That’s what friends do! Well, except for the cuddling, but he was asleep! He probably would’ve grabbed onto the first thing he found.” Sykkuno tried to explain away.

“Well, thank God he didn’t grab onto me when I went to sleep after waking you up.”

“That-” But Sykkuno couldn’t say anything to that.

“And would you have felt the same if it were Toast.”

“What? No! That’s not-”

“-What friends do?”

Sykkuno turned away in frustration, practically stuffing the beaker inside the receptacle to make the liquid go down faster. He wanted Grease to let it go. Black was kind and comforting and funny and so perfect with everything he was, but he wouldn’t ruin their friendship because of his feelings.

The next chemical appeared on the display and it read: Verytoxium. Sykkuno scoffed. If he hadn’t realised it before, he certainly did now, and he moved over to the bottles with the very fake chemical names. Somebody had probably reprogramed it for a joke.

“Do you want to kiss him?” Grease questioned once more. Sykkuno sighed in defeat, figuring if he just answered the questions, they might stop faster.

“I wouldn’t do anything he wouldn’t want me too.”

“Do you want him to kiss you?”

Sykkuno blushed profusely because there’s no way… There’s no way. But if there was? “Arr, maybe yeah? I guess so but-”

“Are we just going to ignore the fact that one of you could be an imposter?” At the sound of Toast’s voice Sykkuno jolted, nearly spilling the Verytoxium- or whatever it really was -all over himself. He hadn’t noticed Toast entering the room. “Who knows what he did to him? No offense Sykkuno, but you were a goner. Whatever he did had to have been some alien shit.”

There was a note of disgust in Toast’s voice. Did he think that Black was the imposter? Wait. He’d said one of them. He didn’t think- no. He wouldn’t think that of him, would he? No, surely not.

“Well, to be fair, it was alien shit.” Grease pointed out, ignoring the first part, preparing another canister.

Suddenly the emergency alarm went off signalling a warning for oxygen deprivation. The only way to solve that was to switch out the Oxygenators in both O2 and Admin to reset the system.

“Should we go?” Sykkuno asked worriedly.

“Nah,” Grease answered. “I’m sure the other two have it, they’re on the right side of the ship anyway.”

“Or one of them could be dead and the imposter could be waiting for us all to suffocate to death.” Toast argued.

“Unlikely.” Grease huffed. heaving another cannister over. “Sean’s not the imposter and even if Black was, I doubt he’d leave Sykkuno to die, not after trying so hard to save him. Feel free to go, yourself, but I’m almost done here and I’m not restarting now.” Grease said tiredly, plugging the next canister into the reactor. “Warning.” He said, right before the loud whooshing sound returned.

Toast seemed conflicted between staying with them and going to fix oxygen, eventually he decided on checking the cameras to make sure the other two were working on it. He shouted as such over the loud racket of the reactor but Sykkuno only understood him by reading his lips.

Sykkuno turned back to his own task, shaking his mind free of any distraction, and carefully poured five millilitres of Verytoxium into the beaker before tipping it into the receptacle. Something else popped up on the display but it just read: _All hail the mighty Reactor!_ with a smiley face on the end. Now finished with his task he turned back to see if Grease was done yet but the sight that greeted him left him hollow and empty.

Grease was dead.

Sykkuno tried shouting out to Toast but he wasn’t sure the other man heard him over the whooshing.

Grease was dead.

He hung a foot off the ground with two thick silver spikes pierced through his chest and imbedded into the wall.

Grease was dead.

Sykkuno managed to stumble over to the body and put a hand against his neck to feel for a pulse he knew wouldn’t be there.

Grease was dead and Toast had just walked in on Sykkuno standing right next to the body. The look Toast was giving Sykkuno then was almost too awful to bear. The loud whooshing evolving into a heady silence that was only broken by the alarms sounding through the ship.

“It wasn’t me.” Sykkuno whispered feebly.

Toast said nothing, but pressed the emergency button, the ships fire alarms joining the others echoing through the chamber. Toast then forced Sykkuno to walk ahead of him into Cafeteria where their last two crewmates waited for them.

At their approach, Sean and Black stood up straighter, immediately taking note of Grease’s absence. When Black walked over to Sykkuno, Toast stopped him, and forced Sykkuno to take a seat at the centre table, motioning for the others to do the same.

Sykkuno didn’t look up but he could tell that the other two were searching him for a sign that he was okay; a sign he couldn’t give.

Toast started, “Grease is dead.” The other two only nodded; well and truly used to their friends dying and what their absences meant. “I found Sykkuno standing beside his body, nailed to the wall with large silver spikes.”

“You found him? You mean you left them alone?” Black asked him to clarify, none too happy.

“Yes, because the oxygen alarms were ringing and I had to check that you two were doing them, so yes, I checked into Security and when I came back Grease was dead.”

“So, you think Sykkuno did it?” Sean asked.

“I don’t know. Sykkuno is many things but stupid isn’t one of them and I don’t think he would’ve killed Grease when he couldn’t get away with it.”

Sykkuno looked up in surprise. Toast didn’t think he did it?

“What I want to know, is why it took you guys so long to fix oxygen?” Toast questioned them.

Sean began, “I was in O2 when the alarms went off, finishing off a task, and Black had just finished his last one in Navigation. I told him that I would repair the one in O2 when I was done with my task while he would go around to Admin and fix the other one there.”

“I chose to go through Cafeteria, but the doors shut me in, it wasn’t until they opened again that I could get through. You’d already rang the fire alarms by the time the doors opened but I went down to Admin anyway because otherwise we’d all die.” Black finished.

“So, you were separated as well.” Toast noted.

“Sykkuno, what did you see?” Sean asked.

Sykkuno looked up at them all hopelessly. “Nothing. I didn’t see anything. But I didn’t kill him, please, I didn’t.”

“If it wasn’t Sykkuno then how could something have killed him so fast without being seen?”

Black got up from the table to pick up the map that Grease had found earlier. He set it in front of Sean and pointed to the vents in the Reactor room. “I’m assuming he was near one of these?” He asked the other two.

Sykkuno nodded, “The top one.”

“Then they would have had to go through Upper Engine. Toast, you said you were on cameras. If you didn’t see anyone it couldn’t have been either of us.” Black said for Sean and himself.

“You must have already passed by the time I got there.”

“Well that’s convenient.”

“Convenient, yeah. Like that time you were meant to be on camera’s when Sykkuno got chased through the halls by a murderous alien. You didn’t mention that in the meeting though.” Toast sneered.

Sykkuno looked up at Black with a frown, he’d forgotten that Black had claimed he was in Security. He should have been able to see Sykkuno running for his life, but he hadn’t.

Black had the decency to look a bit guilty at that. “I had a task to do in there on the other side of the room.”

“Yeah, and I bet that task was just long enough to kill Lily.” Toast accused. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that vent in Security.”

“You’re just trying to lead us away from the fact that you weren’t anywhere to be found either.”

“I was following after Sykkuno and-”

“Oh, yeah, I bet you felt perfectly safe running after a killer-”

“Alright, Shut UP!” Sean yelled. He pressed his hands into his eyes and groaned. “Let’s roll this back a few allegations so the rest of the crew can keep up.”

Sean turned to Black first. “You were meant to be on cameras when Sykkuno was being hunted down by Rae.” Black looked sadly at Sykkuno but nodded. “But you were doing a task across the room and now Toast believes that you had gone through the vent and killed Lily.” Sykkuno held his breath. He didn’t want it to be true, though he didn’t want it to be true for any of them, and yet, it had to be one of them.

“Remember what Rae said in her final moment. She said that the only one she killed was Felix. That means someone else killed Lily.” Toast said.

“And you trust the words of an imposter?” Black snorted.

“Except, Toast, I was there.” Sean cut in. “So you mean to say that in the short time that I was in Reactor, Black had supposedly gone through the vent, killed someone, and made it back completely unfazed by the time I checked back in on him? I’m sorry, Toast, I just don’t believe it. Black caught Rae coming out of Med Bay, it had to have been her.”

“That’s what he claimed, but what if it wasn’t?”

“You’re forgetting that you were by yourself as well, or rather, chasing after a killer.” Black said.

“If you were chasing after us then surely you would have seen Rae in the hallways, because I never saw her follow me through Cafeteria.” Sykkuno spoke up.

“Well, no, I didn’t.” Toast admitted.

“Let her get by, did you?” Black gibed.

“What about Poki’s death, you were standing in O2 with a killer where minutes later Poki died.” Toast prodded.

“I thought we agreed that Rae had to have done that, her claw marks were all over the scene.” Sykkuno said.

“Because the claw marks don’t match the perfect fucking hole through the centre of Poki’s head!” Toast cried. “And I really don’t think Rae was kidding when she said she could never kill Poki.”

“And yet, you think I did? When I was standing right next to her? You think she would’ve allowed that?” Black mocked. “That doesn’t make any fucking sense. I don’t know why you’re giving so much weight to a killer’s word. She also named Sykkuno a traitor, are you going to believe that as well?”

“Well if the imposter isn’t you, then it has to be Sykkuno!”

Sykkuno was stupefied by Toast’s words but he knew he shouldn’t have kept his hopes up. Toast did find him standing in front of Grease’s body, there’s not much standing between himself and that conclusion.

“Yes, never mind the fact that Rae tried to kill him. Twice!” Black argued with heavy sarcasm.

“You think that was a coincidence? She lets him get away the first time, and the second, you fix him up with some alien tonic. I think you’re in cahoots!” Toast insisted desperately.

“Wait, Toast! Come on, we’re best friends.” Sykkuno said, trying to get him to see reason.

Toast leaned away from him, watching him warily. “No. We _were_ best friends. I don’t know who you are anymore.” Those words bit into him harder than Rae’s claws ever could.

Black shook his head in disbelief. “I think it’s you.” He declared.

“What? How is it me?” Toast asked offended.

“Well, let’s see. If what Rae said was true and she really didn’t kill Poki then you were the only person who was floating around where Poki was at the time. No one here knows how long you took to get from Lily to Felix and then back to Lily again, who knows if you hunted down Poki in the meantime. But most of all you were the only person who could have killed Grease other than Sykkuno because if it were either of us you would have caught them on the cameras, the fact that you didn’t means that you went in and took out Grease because I don’t believe that Sykkuno did it for the same reasons you said yourself.”

“Unless he knew we’d jump to that conclusion!?” His tone was turning frantic as the tide turned against him. “He was probably relying on us falling for his innocence and expected us to blame each other because ‘How could sweet, innocent Sykkuno kill anyone?’ Don’t forget he was also by himself in the time that Poki died.”

“I already said he couldn’t have killed Poki!”

“So, you’re going to take Sykkuno’s side just because he sucked up to you the most! Because he fooled you into falling in love with him!” Black sat back stunned, completely blindsided by where Toast was taking this. “Oh, yeah, I know. But guess what? He’s probably not even human. Do you really think he gives a shit about you!?”

Sykkuno knew that in any other situation the declaration that Black was in love with him would have taken up the forefront of his mind, but at the moment he was more worried about his friend who seemed to be breaking apart at the seams. Toast had always seemed like someone who was always in control, but now… Sykkuno had never seen this part of him before, so frantic and angry, he feared this whole situation was taking its toll on his mental state. He couldn’t have really meant what he said. He was just too stressed, and he needed a break.

“Guys let’s just calm down. If we stay calm, then I’m sure we can figure this out.” Sykkuno said softly. It didn’t work.

Toast looked at him manically, eyes filled with rage. “No! Shut UP!” He lunged at Sykkuno, tackling him to the floor. Toast had his hands wrapped around Sykkuno’s throat and he couldn’t breathe. Sykkuno’s fingers scratched and pulled on the other’s hands but Toast only pressed down harder. “I won’t let you pull your evil tricks on me. I was so careful, watching how everyone changed, but you… As soon as Black started paying attention to you, you left me! The real Sykkuno would never do that! You used his image and laid on your back like a whore and won Black over to your side, didn’t you?!”

Suddenly the weight was off him and Sykkuno curled into himself sucking in great lungfuls of air. Black was standing over him, chest heaving and fists clenched in rage while Toast slowly picked himself up off the floor a few metres away.

“See! Like a trained dog! Sean, you have to believe me. Black is useless but if we get rid of Sykkuno there might be hope for him. If not, we could just throw them both out.” Toast bargained, looking like he already expected Sean to agree with him.

“Black,” Sean spoke tiredly, pressing his fingers into the headache that culminated between his eyes. “I spent a long time in this hell hole with you and you haven’t killed me yet, so I’m with you. For me this is a 50-50, Toast and Sykkuno. If you think it’s Toast, then it’s Toast. We throw him out, we check the Com’s unit, and if it still reads an imposter, then it’s Sykkuno. Deal?”

“Deal.” Black agreed confidently.

“Wait guys! No! It can’t be Toast! He’s just confused. Please! There’s got to be another way.” Sykkuno begged.

Black helped him up off the floor but held onto his arms tightly, not letting him go. “I’m sorry, Sykkuno, but this has to end. One of us is an imposter. One of us has to go.”

“I just don’t think that it’s him!”

“Then who?”

Sykkuno couldn’t answer. He didn’t know.

They frogmarched Toast to the airlock. He struggled and fought against them the entire time, yelling for Sean to see reason. Sykkuno stayed behind them and kept his head down, his eyes wet with tears. Even now Toast was begging them to throw him out instead, but even though Toast had attacked him and accused him of being the imposter, he still couldn’t hate him. He didn’t want him to die. He didn’t want to see his best friend get thrown out of the airlock, doomed to suffocate in the infinite space.

He turned away as Black and Sean forced Toast into the airlock at gun point. He couldn’t watch.

“Please! Please, Sean. It’s not me. It’s not me! They’re tricking you! You can’t trust them! They’re-” The sound of the airlock closing cut off Toast’s final words. Sykkuno closed his eyes and bit his lip to stop the heavy sob that wanted to leave his chest. His throat choked up and he couldn’t breathe through the pain.

Unable to bear it anymore Sykkuno turned around to watch Toast as the outer doors opened but instead, he found himself looking at Black.

“Don’t.” Black muttered, watching him with sympathy. “Remember him as he was, not how he ended.”

Sykkuno gave up on holding it in and sobbed into Black’s chest, the taller man’s arms coming around him, holding him tighter.

Sykkuno thought back to when he and Toast had met back at the base. How the man, a stranger at the time, had dragged him away from the people he’d thought were his friends because he’d seen that Sykkuno was too nice to realise they were just using him. Toast had sat him down at a different table, a table full of people who were so kind to him, and simply declared that they were friends, and that was that. They’d been together ever since; going on expeditions together and exploring different planets. Toast’s shenanigans would always lead them both into trouble, but the officials had a soft spot for Sykkuno, so they’d always managed to get away with it. Whenever it would be just one of them heading off, they’d come back with so much to say that they’d stay together all through the night talking about their adventures and occasionally making up outrageous tall tales just to make the other laugh.

This was the Toast that he wanted to remember, and the memories made him smile despite all the pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, how I fought against myself on the idea of throwing an innocent person out of the ship. I'm so sorry my darker side won. But it's Among Us, and it happens.
> 
> I know Toast isn't the type to loose his cool playing this game, but I feel like if this were real life, someone like that would absolutely loose it, especially when the odds turn against them. Once he knew Sean wouldn't believe him about Corpse it just became about saving his own skin.  
> As for turning against Sykkuno, once the seed of doubt is sown...


	8. Game Over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! For notes about an epilogue see the end notes.  
> It's short and sweet and a real punch to the gut.  
> There's not a lot of exposition for the over-arcing 'Why" in this chapter because it didn't feel appropriate. *sigh* Just another reason to wait for an epilogue.
> 
> It has been a real pleasure writing for all of you and I cherish each and every one of your comments.  
> I really hope you've liked this story. Thank you for reading!!!

Sean gave them a moment, staying silent while Sykkuno mourned for his friend, Corpse holding him close to his chest as each sob tore at his heart.

He hated seeing Sykkuno like this, each and every time his heart ached to make it stop, to protect Sykkuno from this pain but at the same time it was him who was causing it.

Corpse felt horrible for making the humans throw one of their own out of the ship, not that it was any worse than dying at his hands but at least he was the only one they could blame. This death would sit with them forever, or at least it would for Sykkuno.

Corpse wouldn’t kill Sykkuno, he couldn’t, and he wouldn’t let Sean either.

Corpse knew that when they reached the coms unit, and the alert message popped up saying that there was still one alien on board, that Sean would immediately turn on Sykkuno. He’s not sure what made the human trust him so much. It worked in his favour when it came to voting to throw Toast out, but now it put Sykkuno in danger.

He really didn’t want to transform in front of Sykkuno either, although he’d figure out that he was the alien soon enough. Then he’d probably want to get as far away from him as possible. Would he hate him? Would he fear him? The thought of Sykkuno turning away from him seared his mind, but at least Sykkuno would be alive, and so long as he was alive, he could try to- to get him to love him again? He doubted that would ever happen, especially if the other saw his true form, he’d probably only ever think he was a monster.

Sykkuno began to calm down and Corpse realised that in his paranoia he was squeezing him a bit too tightly. His mind clung to the thought that this might be the last time he would ever hold the other in his arms. He didn’t want to let go.

Sykkuno finally pulled away from Corpse with a deep shaky breath and Sean straightened from where he was leaning against the wall casually.

“Ready?” He asked.

Sykkuno nodded. “Yeah.”

Sean lead them back through Storage and they all moved silently to Communications. Corpse was running out of time to come up with a plan, but he couldn’t figure out how to get Sykkuno to leave without Sean catching on.

They entered the room and Sean went straight to the com’s unit. Copse stood only a couple of paces into the room and prevented Sykkuno from going in any further. The screen of the Com’s unit flickered on and a scrolling list of all the tasks that were never completed taunted them more and more the longer it ran.

A loud alert sounded in the silence and Sean ceased to move. He reached robotically for his gun and turned slowly to face them.

He raised the weapon and pointed it at Corpse.

“Move, Black.” He ordered. Any emotion he’d had left had been sapped from him the moment he realised that he’d been fooled. Corpse kept Sykkuno behind him, shielding him with his body. “Black, we already agreed. If it wasn’t Toast, then it had to be Sykkuno.”

Sykkuno gasped behind him and Corpse felt his hands clenching the back of his shirt as he realised that his best friend had been completely innocent. “No, no, no, no…”

“Come on, Black! You know it’s him. I know you don’t want to believe it, but it’s true.”

Corpse still didn’t move. He wondered if he yelled at Sykkuno to run, could he make it out the door before Sean could aim and fire at him. They weren’t getting out of this any other way.

“Forget your feelings for him, they were all built upon lies anyway. If you don’t step aside, I’ll shoot you too. I’ll count to three. One.”

Corpse grabbed Sykkuno’s hand behind him and put pressure on it.

“Two.”

Corpse felt Sykkuno clench his hand in return.

“Three!”

Corpse lunged towards Sean at the same time Sykkuno bolted for the door. Sean raised his gun towards Sykkuno and managed to fire a single shot, but it missed, burying into the wall harmlessly. Then Corpse was on him, tackling him to the ground. Sean kicked out at him, his combat training working to his advantage, as he managed to fight Corpse off him and stood up. Before Corpse could make another move, Sean fired a bullet into his leg. Corpse grunted loudly as pain shot down his leg and it gave out from under him, blood pouring from the wound.

Sean moved to the door. “Sorry, Black, but Toast was right. You’re useless when it comes to Sykkuno. I’ll finish this myself. You’ll stay out of the way.” With that promise, he left.

Corpse grunted in pain as he tried to stand. His leg was healing but he had to move. He had to kill Sean before he could get to Sykkuno.

He stumbled out of Communications and looked down the hallway, he couldn’t spot any sign of either of them. He tried to think of where Sykkuno might try to run, or where Sean would think to look, but he doubted that Sykkuno would be foolish enough to go to his greenhouse. He started down the hallway towards Storage and continued on to Lower Engine keeping an ear out for any sound of footsteps or gunshots. His heart hammered in his chest and he feared the thought of being too late. At any moment Sean could come across Sykkuno and that would be the end of everything.

He picked up the pace as his leg healed enough to put more weight on it, and soon enough he was able to run up to Security. His best chance at finding them would be through the cameras and then he could intercept Sean before he could get any closer to finding his quarry. The cameras came online, and Corpse immediately spotted Sean checking the greenhouse. He didn’t seem to find anything, and Corpse sighed in relief. Sykkuno would probably be hiding in one of the other rooms, but as he watched Sean start towards Upper Engine, he heard footsteps coming up from below.

Shit! Sykkuno was in the hallway and as soon as Sean turned that corner, he would see him. Corpse threw himself away from the cameras and had just turned the corner into the hallway when three gunshots rang out.

Each of them hit him like mini cannonballs, sending him into the body in front of him. He collapsed into Sykkuno, bringing him down with him and he barely managed to catch himself with his arms even as pain ricocheted down his back.

Sykkuno looked at him in pure shock. The man he loved had taken three bullets for him and there was so much blood. He probably thought Corpse was dying. He certainly didn’t feel good.

“For fucks sake, Black!” Sean shouted in anguish, realising who he’d shot. “Why did you- If you’d just let me end this- Fuck!”

Sean continued to swear at him, but Corpse ignored him in favour of staring down at Sykkuno. The other man raised his hand to brush against Corpse’s face and he could see the pain and sadness in those eyes. Corpse knew this had to end now, for a different reason than the man below him thought, but he allowed them both this first and last kiss.

Sykkuno closed his eyes as their lips met, so soft and pliant under his. He felt the man’s T’uith flare up eagerly and Corpse called out to it through their connection. The rush of T’uith only made their mouths more sensitive and Corpse allowed his tongue to brush against his lips. Sykkuno opened up with a quiet gasp and Corpse dove right in. Their kiss grew more heated and their tongues tangled together. He was so caught up in the sensation of Sykkuno’s love and warmth tied in with the T’uith, that he gradually let his true form unfold before those closed eyelids. The moment one of Corpse’s fangs nicked Sykkuno’s tongue the other man pulled away with a gasp.

His shock only grew as he took in the sight before his eyes, but Corpse didn’t want to see that shock turn into disgust, or hatred, or betrayal- He didn’t want to see it, so he turned away, back to their final problem.

Sean stood, slack jawed, leaning against the wall like his sanity depended on it. The man had been so sure it was Sykkuno, so sure that it wasn’t Corpse. The turn of events made him sick to his stomach.

Corpse stood before them both, tall and pale. Silver horns curled around his ears and more silver protrusions extended from his back, torn through his shirt, curving around him like a second ribcage. His arms morphed into blades and he opened his mouth to reveal his sharp fangs and silver tongue.

Sean shakily tried to aim his gun at him again. He managed to get a shot off that hit Corpse in the chest, but with the amount of T’uith running through him in that moment, he was completely unfazed. He stalked towards Sean and with one swipe of a blade he severed Sean’s firing arm at the wrist. Sean howled and clutched his bloody stump to his chest, looking up at him in horror. Corpse grabbed him by the neck, his blades gone, and squeezed him tightly. He didn’t want this to be anymore bloody than it had too, not in front of Sykkuno.

He could hear Sykkuno screaming his name, telling him to stop but he didn’t.

“Corpse!”

At his real name Corpse faltered and dropped Sean, who slumped to the ground clutching his throat, struggling to breathe. He looked at Sykkuno. How?

“Stop! You have to stop!” He watched the other closely as he ran up to him, pulling on his now tight shirt, but not a trace of fear on his face. “St-Stop killing! Please! Just let him live!”

Corpse was too stunned to answer for a moment, completely consumed within the other’s eyes that stared up at him so boldly. Sykkuno was a lot shorter than him now, where as in his human form they had pretty much been the same height, Sykkuno only a couple of inches shorter, now he barely reached his shoulders and Corpse thought about gathering him up right then and tucking him underneath his chin. The perfect size…

He broke from his thoughts as he registered Sykkuno’s question and shook his head vehemently. “No, they all have to die.” He said simply as if it were obvious.

“They?” Sean bit out.

Corpse turned to find Sean with the gun in his other hand, pointed at him. The first shot hit him in the skull, splitting his ears with pain but he didn’t feel the second shot. Behind him Sykkuno cried out and Corpse forced the pain from his eyes long enough to spot Sean, gun still raised but clicking pointlessly. Corpse roared and charged at the human. He thrust his bladed arm through Sean’s chest morphing it back and gripping the human’s heart, ripping it from his ribcage.

The man dropped, dead. It was over.

Breathing hard and trying to push back the throbbing in his head Corpse stumbled back to Sykkuno. He was kneeling on the ground and clutching his stomach, clearly in pain.

“I’m fine.” Sykkuno forced out as Corpse reached out to check the wound.

“No, you’re not.” It’s true that it wasn’t a fatal wound, but Corpse wouldn’t leave Sykkuno to suffer any more than he already had. “Come on. I know what will help.”

He helped Sykkuno up and together they moved past Sean’s body and towards the greenhouse. They entered the small space and Corpse had Sykkuno sit on the only stool in the room, still clutching at his stomach to staunch the bleeding. Sykkuno watched him carefully. Corpse could see the questions in his eyes but the confusion as well as the pain kept Sykkuno from voicing them, for the moment. Corpse grabbed one of the potted plants, the strongest one in the room and placed it on Sykkuno’s lap. Corpse gently guided his hand to the plant and Sykkuno touched it softly. As he did the plant began to shrivel up and Sykkuno pulled his hand away as if he had been burnt.

“What? No!” He studied the plant carefully, not daring to touch it again. “What happened? Why?” He looked up at Corpse horrified.

“Don’t worry.” He eased, bringing him another plant. “It’s what they’re meant for.”

Sykkuno froze, “You- You know what they are…” Sykkuno said slowly, “You knew what the serum was too, didn’t you?” He was obviously still coming to terms with Corpse being an alien, despite his altered appearance.

“I did.” He confirmed.

“Why did you waste it on me?”

“I didn’t waste it. I used it for its intended purpose.” He tried to get Sykkuno to touch the new plant, but he fought against him.

“Why? What was it? Please, I want to know.” Sykkuno prodded.

Corpse shook his head. “Touch the plant.” He ordered.

“What? No, I’m killing them!”

“Touch the plant or I won’t tell you.” Corpse compromised.

Sykkuno looked down at the plant sadly but slowly brought his hand up to touch it. It shrivelled up within seconds. Sykkuno shivered.

“What am I doing to them?” He asked.

“You’re taking their… energy. On my planet we call it T’uith. It’s healing you.” At Corpse’s words Sykkuno glanced down at his wound finding that it was significantly better than a fresh bullet wound should be.

“Is this what the serum did as well?”

Corpse paused in finding the next plant, “Sort of.” He mused. “These are Carriers.” He said giving Sykkuno a new plant. He touched it reluctantly and placed the now dead plant on the table with the others. “They store T’uith and share it with other Carriers, or it can be taken by Earoth… Predators? Consumers, maybe? There’s not really a human word for what we are.”

“So, humans are like Predators?” He asked, trying to keep up.

“No, humans generally don’t have any connection with these. You, however, are a Carrier. I don’t know how, but you are, and these plants are offering you their energy to heal you.”

“But they’re dying.”

“They’ve been dying for a long time.”

Sykkuno looked sadly at the dead plants. “How do they get more, T’uith?” He said trying to pronounce it like Corpse had.

“The serum.” Corpse said.

“The Minov’er Trim?” Sykkuno perked up.

“Err, the essence of Gthir, yes. Gthir is the name of the planet.”

“So, the serum gives them more T’uith?”

“No. It enables them to create their own.” Corpse corrected.

“So, when you gave it to me…”

“I only gave you what you needed to heal yourself.” Corpse confirmed. “If I had used it on anyone else it probably would’ve killed them.”

At the reminder of the dead, the room grew silent. Corpse turned away from Sykkuno, unable to stand the emptiness clouding his eyes.

“Corpse?”

He looked at Sykkuno, still surprised to hear that name fall from his lips.

“Yes?”

Sykkuno didn’t say anything for a while, just studying his face. Corpse wondered how he could still look at him like that, the same way that he’d looked at him before.

“You’re not that much different.” Sykkuno answered. He must have said that out loud.

“I’m a killer, a murderer… You shouldn’t…” He mumbled.

“Yeah, I shouldn’t.” But still, he looked at him.

Corpse broke eye contact first, looking down at Sykkuno’s stomach, finding it pretty much healed. “We need to clean up the ship.” He said, thinking about all the bodies piled up in Cafeteria, and Grease’s, and Sean’s. His affinity for Sykkuno had certainly given him a new opinion on life and now that it was all over, he felt some of the guilt creep up on him.

Sykkuno nodded and followed him out of the room. They walked side by side, their arms brushing. It didn’t matter that the danger had passed, they still felt the need to stay as close together as possible. They stopped by Sean’s body and Sykkuno had to look away from his open chest.

“Sorry.” Corpse whispered. Whether he was speaking to Sykkuno or to Sean he didn’t know, but he was sorry all the same.

They picked him up together, Sykkuno by his legs and Corpse by the arms and they carried him out to the Cafeteria. He made sure to take both his heart and his severed arm with them. They went back in the same direction, to the Reactor where Grease still hung from the wall.

“So, you killed Grease as well.” Sykkuno commented. He shouldn’t have been able to talk about death in such a casual way, but he had been through so much, none of this fazed him anymore.

“I killed all of them.” Corpse admitted. He grabbed one of the silver spikes and wrenched it from the wall letting it fall to the ground before going for the second one. Sykkuno managed to catch the body as it fell, and they carried him back to the Cafeteria.

“You didn’t kill Felix.” Sykkuno said.

“No, I didn’t kill Felix.” He agreed.

They placed the two bodies into body bags and Sykkuno pulled a trolly from storage into the room so that they could load the bodies on. When all of their former crewmates were on the trolly they made their way to the airlock.

“You didn’t kill Toast.” Sykkuno said as they loaded the bodies onto the floor of the airlock.

“I did kill Toast.” Corpse corrected.

“We all killed Toast.” He said as they watched the bodies get sucked out into space.

Corpse turned to him, placing his hands firmly on his shoulders, grounding him. “No, I killed Toast. All of this, it’s my fault. If you want to blame anyone, blame me. None of this is your fault.”

Sykkuno began to break down then. The sadness and loss overflowing his kind heart and he couldn’t keep it in any longer. “It is my fault.” Sykkuno said his eyes glassy, staring unseeingly into the void. “I knew.” Tears flooded his eyes and he sobbed uncontrollably. “I knew- From the mo-ment Rae- she said your name. Ev-ery word, I rem-em-ber. I just didn’t-” His chest heaved, and he struggled to breath. “I did-n’t believe- I- I shou-ld’ve- I ju-st didn’t w-nt to lo-ose-”

He let it all out as they sat together beside the airlock looking out into the endless space.

“I s- should ha-te you.” Sykkuno choked out, shuddering with another wave of tears. “I shou-ould hate you, but I love yo-u too much.”

Corpse felt his own heart break then. He curled around his human tighter and peppered his face with kisses. Anything to help him through this anguish that he himself had caused.

At some point Sykkuno began to calm down. He still shuddered with his breathing every now and then but mostly they just sat in silence. Sykkuno eventually fell asleep from exhaustion and Corpse gently picked him up and took him to the sleeping quarters. The beds were quite large, made for comfort, so they could easily fit the both of them in one cot. He considered leaving, there was still so much cleaning to be done, but with the way Sykkuno was clinging to him in his sleep he knew he didn’t want him to leave, and he had no wish to be away from his human either. He tucked Sykkuno comfortably under the covers before climbing in himself. Sykkuno quickly latched back onto him and he was all too content to wrap him up in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last chapter but I am currently working on an epilogue. I don't know how long that'll take though so for now it's marked as complete.  
> I don't know how you guys would feel about things getting a bit more heated *wink wink* but you can prepare yourselves for tons of fluff because any time I try to write dirty it just turns into more butterflies and rainbows.  
> If you want something to turn up in the epilogue let me know and I'll consider it. >(^o^)<


	9. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are still around or just started, Here is the little (Big) addition I promised. May your teeth rot from the sweetness. I kind of went all out. (btw, first time writing smut of any kind)
> 
> Happy New Year! Here's to another year of our two adorable idiots being besties!

Sykkuno woke up slowly. His sleep had been blissfully dreamless, but he didn’t know whether or not he deserved the nightmares. He was surrounded by warmth, like the last time, but this time he didn’t try to escape.

He looked up at Corpse and Sykkuno was thankful that he hadn’t chosen to revert back to Black’s form because now he got the chance to study his sleeping face. He wasn’t all that different from his human form. His face was a bit more gaunt and his eyes certainly stood out a lot more but Sykkuno still saw the man he knew. Black hair, green eyes, a slight pinch to his brows as he slept. His horns peeked Sykkuno’s interest and he managed to wedge an arm free from between their bodies in order to reach up and trace a finger over them. They felt smooth, like bone and he wondered if all his bones were that colour, like the second exposed set of ribs. That one intrigued Sykkuno even more, but he couldn’t see them, or feel them. Sykkuno also considered his silver tongue, he didn’t know how that fit into his bone theory, perhaps he’d just ask him.

Sykkuno looked back up and found that Corpse’s eyes were open, studying him with those ethereal green orbs. They stared into each other’s eyes for who knows how long but Sykkuno kept finding new colours and little flecks of silver the longer he looked. Corpse brought a hand up to cup his face, smoothing a thumb over his cheek, and then lower over his lip and Sykkuno knew that the other could notice the changes in his eyes.

“How can you still look at me like this?” Corpse wondered aloud. “For all the things I’ve done… For all the things I am…”

Sykkuno moved to sit up straight and Corpse reluctantly let him go, before copying him. He really didn’t know how to say what he was feeling. That his assurance of Corpse’s love was so absolute in his mind, that he knew that the other didn’t actually want to hurt him.

Corpse was kind, thoughtful, loving. He may not have been human, but he was in no way a monster. There was a reason for Corpse to act the way he did. There was a reason for two aliens to board a foreign ship, to be completely silent for an entire month and only lash out once they’d been caught. There was a reason he’d felt the need to rid this ship of all life.

He just didn’t know what that reason was, so he asked him now.

“Why?”

Corpse let out a long sigh, putting the pieces together in his mind before putting them into words.

“15 years ago, was the first time Gthir was visited by humans. We didn’t really know what to make of them at first, they seemed harmless, so we kept our distance, just watching them. They didn’t stay for long and soon they were gone as if they were never there. Then two years later another human ship landed not far from the last. These humans seemed harmless as well, but they also appeared to be looking for something. They dug around a lot and disturbed a lot of the wildlife in the area. We, the Earoth, thought about chasing them off but they soon left on their own.

“Another two years later and another human ship landed. This one was much further away than the others and it had landed close to a large field of Carriers. Our duty as Earoth is to protect the Carriers, to protect Gthir. When these humans entered the field of Carriers, they became our enemy and we hunted them down to the last man. With the final human’s life in our hands, our leader took his form and with it took his memories, and with them we finally realised what the humans were looking for. They had found out that the Carriers were massive sources of energy and wanted to grow them on their own planet to farm them for power.

“The first human’s memories were quite peaceful, they only wanted to give back to your dying planet, but it was the next human’s memories that revealed what humans could truly do with that much power. They wanted to make super weapons, the likes that rivalled a supernova, so powerful they could wipe out planets with one press of a button. It was then that we realised how dangerous the humans really were.

“From that moment on any human became kill on sight. We hunted down so many over the years but then they started getting clever. They would fake their presence in other areas of the planet, and we would go there finding nothing only to find them later digging up the Carriers and taking them aboard their ships. We knew that without the essence of Gthir the Carriers would eventually die and become useless to the humans, but we always feared that one day they would figure out how harness their power. We needed to be sure that they hadn’t managed it yet.

“Rae and I’s mission was to board your ship and travel back to your base with you. We were to find out what the humans had learnt about the Carriers and destroy any that remained within the humans’ grasp. Our last task would have been to eliminate all human life in that base before either returning home or dying there.

“When I saw you with that serum, I wanted to destroy it on the spot, I’m glad I didn’t because it ended up saving your life but seeing it here on this ship terrified me. And you may have thought I wasn’t interested in your studies of the plants but at that moment I was too shocked to even think. You also revealed that you hadn’t been able to replicate it and that all of the Carriers that came before these had died as well without you learning anything. It was enough information for me to know that my mission ended with the destruction of this ship. I had no need to go to your base and instead I could bring you home with me.”

Sykkuno listened the whole story rapt with every word he said but at the sound of home Sykkuno’s eyes widened in surprise. “Home? We’re going to your planet?”

“Is that okay with you?” Corpse asked with pleading eyes.

“Yes.” Sykkuno smiled, he couldn’t say no to those eyes. He would miss home though- Or well, the base, maybe. No. Without his friends the base was nothing.

“Good, because I already set the ship on course.” Corpse said pulling Sykkuno towards him with a grin.

Sykkuno gasped as he was pulled into Corpse’s lap, straddling his thighs. “Were you even going to allow me to say no?” Sykkuno asked punching him playfully in the chest.

“No.” He said, eyes gleaming playfully.

“You know… Ours was the last ship planning to set out to your planet in a long time. I don’t know if that’s changed but I do know that there was some pressure from higher authorities to stop any more expeditions going to your planet, the death rate being so high… and they were getting nothing out of it. I think it was just human greed that kept it going for so long.” Sykkuno tried to explain.

Corpse hummed; face pressed into Sykkuno’s neck. The sensation of Corpse’s breath against his neck was distracting enough but when his lips grazed his skin Sykkuno’s mind focussed in on every touch.

“Well… Your planet is also quite difficult to track because it doesn’t revolve around a sun… Or rather it is a sun but it’s too dark to see. There were so many times they thought they’d lost your planet…” Corpse was kissing and licking his neck now, sending sparks of pleasure racing under his skin and he shuddered as Corpse sucked another dark mark into his skin. “What I’m trying to say is that if its left alone for a good amount of time there is a good chance that the humans might never find your planet again.” Sykkuno got out breathlessly.

Corpse glanced up at him, seemingly satisfied with the deep purple mark that sat boldly above Sykkuno’s collar bone. “Our planet.” He corrected stretching up to press their lips together.

Sykkuno melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Corpse’s neck. Corpse cupped his cheek with one hand and tilted his head slightly, the new angle deepened their kiss and left Sykkuno feeling dizzy from the other man’s passion.

A thought occurred to him and he broke away from the kiss. “Wait, Wait.” The longing look in Corpse’s hazy eyes almost had him regretting breaking the kiss but this was important. “There’s no oxygen on your planet. How am I going to breath?”

“Oh.” Corpse said after a moment, “You don’t have too.”

Sykkuno looked down at him condescendingly. “Of course, I have too. I can’t just stop breathing!”

“But you could.”

“No. I’m human, remember?” Sykkuno reminded.

“You’re a Carrier, remember?” Corpse said, copying his tone. “When you were recovering from Rae’s attack, I grew worried when you started showing signs of returning but you weren’t breathing. You only started once you had regained consciousness. My guess is that you only choose to breath out of habit.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Sykkuno said in disbelief.

“You could always try.”

Sykkuno gave him a wary look, “So I just hold my breath?” Corpse shrugged and nodded.

Sykkuno breathed in deeply a few times, preparing himself. With one final gulp of air he clamped his mouth shut and mentally blocked off his nose, determined to hold his breath for as long as possible. At first it was fine, easy even, but as it drew on, he began to think about it and the more he thought about it the worse it got. He was too focussed on it, his ears began to grow hot and he felt unnerved as his throat began to strain, his heart was picking up and he knew he couldn’t hold on any longer.

“Let me help.”

As Sykkuno finally gave up and opened his mouth for a breath, Corpse sealed his mouth with his own and swallowed his request for air. Sykkuno gripped his shoulders tightly, pushing against him as the pressure in his lungs continued to grow and he began to panic, but Corpse persisted.

There was a huge pressure in his chest and his lungs fought against the seal of their lips, begging for air that Corpse wouldn’t allow in. Sykkuno winced at the pain but other than the unusual discomfort, he didn’t feel like he was suffocating. His head was still clear and when he finally managed to calm down the racing of his heart, he found that he could ignore this weird feeling and instead focus on Corpse’s lips and tongue as they moved against his. Sykkuno closed his eyes again, trying to fall into the sensation to ignore the burning of his lungs, and it worked, for a while.

Eventually the urge to breath became too much and he pulled away from Corpse with a splutter and he sucked in great lungfuls of fresh oxygen. Corpse grinned at him proudly. “That was good, I think.”

“How long was it? It didn’t feel like very long.” Sykkuno panted, resting their foreheads together.

“About ten minutes.”

Sykkuno looked at him surprised, “Okay, yeah. That’s not normal.”

Corpse hummed, “You should practice more.” His face held a grin like the Cheshire Cat and as he moved to kiss him again Sykkuno leaned away from him with a laugh.

“Not so fast! I don’t think I can handle that again so soon.”

Corpse eyed him hungrily when he couldn’t reach him anymore and the look sent shivers down Sykkuno’s spine. Corpse tried to get to him again but Sykkuno leaned back even further. Then suddenly he was falling back onto the bed covers with a very determined Corpse now hovering above him, staring down at him with fervour.

The horned creature bore down on his delicate human but instead of the drowning kiss Sykkuno expected, Corpse began to litter his face with thousands of fleeting kisses that had Sykkuno laughing and pushing at his chest to get the other man to stop.

Corpse sat back on his heels, but his hands were still planted either side of Sykkuno’s body and his hips remained pressed between Sykkuno’s thighs. Sykkuno’s breath stuttered as he realised the position, they were in. It left Sykkuno feeling open and exposed, and the way Corpse couldn’t take his eyes off him was making his blood run hot.

Sykkuno wasn’t any better.

Corpse’s presence was so dominating that Sykkuno felt like his prey, cornered and vulnerable, resigned to the fate his predator bestows upon him. He didn’t feel like prey, though. He felt so powerless and yet more powerful than he’d ever felt before because he knew that Corpse was his: His impressive height, his muscular build and those magnificent horns that crowned his head. They were all his.

Sykkuno reached up for Corpse’s horns. He gripped one of them and pulled on it lightly, Corpse growled at him playfully but dutifully ducked his head down for Sykkuno to inspect them closer. They were indeed smooth, but now that Sykkuno could get a closer look he also saw the little rivets that marked its growth. Sykkuno let Corpse go and instead reached for Corpse’s chest, expecting to feel the hardened ridges of bone but all he felt was skin through the thin cotton.

“I thought…”

Corpse smiled but looked away. “I thought that would be too much.”

“I don’t mind. Really, please. Don’t do it because you think I won’t like it, I do. I will. I want to know you. The real you. Please?” Sykkuno begged. He needed Corpse to know that he loved him in every form he came.

If Sykkuno didn’t know love, then the look Corpse gave him then would have spelt it out to him, dictionary definition and the entire history of the word. A look that was only rivalled by his own; wholly and unequivocally in love.

“Well, the truth is, they’re mostly used for defence. I don’t really need to expose them unless there’s a threat, so I keep them contained most of the time, same thing with the fangs. I certainly don’t need them around you.” Corpse teased.

“You don’t know that. I could be a threat.” Sykkuno said cheekily.

Corpse raised an interested eyebrow, half disbelief, half daring. “Umm, I’d really like to see that.”

Sykkuno bit his lip. He took on the challenge, but he didn’t really know what to do. He decided to raise his hands and curl his fingers to imitate claws, like a lion, and did his best attempt at a growl, which he thought came out pretty well.

Corpse just stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before he ran a hand down his face with a long groan. “I don’t think my heart can take such a grave assault.”

Sykkuno giggled and covered his face in embarrassment. He couldn’t believe he’d done that, but if embarrassing himself meant that Corpse could be more comfortable in his own skin, Sykkuno would do anything.

Corpse sighed again sitting back. He looked at Sykkuno one last time, making sure he was certain, receiving only wide-open acceptance. Seeming to find his ground, Corpse lifted his shirt over his head. Sykkuno couldn’t help the quiet gasp that left him at the sight of Corpse’s body. Corpse looked at him and wiggled his eyebrows making Sykkuno blush again, but Sykkuno’s unconscious reaction appeared to be the encouragement he needed to finally allow the silver appendages to slip from behind his back and curve around his sides to stop in the centre of his chest.

They weren’t quite like a ribcage, but they were close enough to make that comparison. Five sets of ribs crossed over his chest, the top two curving up over his heart, and another two escaped from his collar bone to fill the gap, the bottom two sets didn’t even come close to wrapping around his body enough for protection and instead extended outwards.

Sykkuno sat up and began to trace his fingers over each silver rib before following them back to where they emerged from his skin. Corpse shivered as Sykkuno’s fingers contacted the sensitive skin there but allowed him to keep exploring. Sykkuno trailed back over the upper ribs, palming at the one that covered Corpse’s heart, thick and strong, his heartbeat resonating through the bone.

With this rib like structure and the horns that crowned his head, his overall form was awfully skeletal. Not that he looked scary, it looked really good on him, but, “I can see why you were named Corpse.”

Corpse chuckled, “It was actually a human that gave me this name.”

The flare of jealousy he felt then must have showed on his face because Corpse laughed and kissed him softly.

“Not personally. One of my kind had taken their form… apparently they’d seen me covered in blood and dirt and thought I looked like a corpse.” He explained. “The others all called me that until it stuck.” The smile on his face was fond and Sykkuno wanted to know that memory. He realised that he didn’t really know anything about Corpse or his life on Gthir, but they had a long trip back to correct that.

“I’m surprised they didn’t think ‘zombie’.” Sykkuno joked.

“What’s a zombie?”

Sykkuno just laughed. “Never mind.”

Sykkuno continued to brush his hands over the silver ribs and the skin between them. So concentrated he was, on the subject of his fascination that he didn’t notice Corpse’s breath catch as his fingers brushed over one of his nipples.

“So, I see you’ve managed to coax me of my shirt without me realising it, but never mind that, what I want to know, is when do I get to strip you of yours?”

Sykkuno jerked his hand away from Corpse’s skin in shock, his face bright red once more. “Wha- N-No, I didn’t mean too, I just wanted to see…”

“Mmm, so do I. Fairs fair, my little human.” Corpse said, eyes hooded with lust. “You’ve got until my patience wears out before I shred it to pieces.”

Sykkuno gasped and shuddered at the idea of Corpse taking control like that. His strength and determination were so attractive, he half wanted Corpse to go through with it.

“By Gthir… You’d like that wouldn’t you.” Corpse groaned approvingly, but still nudged Sykkuno to remove it himself. “Come on, I know you like this shirt.”

With Corpse’s assistance Sykkuno managed to pull his shirt over his head before Corpse began to lick at his neck again. Each nip of his teeth and caress of his tongue created a delectable combination of harsh yet soothing that had Sykkuno writhing in his grasp. The sensations moved from his neck to his collarbones and then to his chest, leaving no patch of skin untouched or unmarked. When he felt Corpse’s tongue at his nipple the sudden spike of pleasure had his back arcing off the bed.

Corpse kept teasing Sykkuno’s nipples, thriving on the reactions he was getting out of him. Corpse eventually pulled away in favour of traveling further down his body. Corpse let his fingers trail lightly across his stomach and hips, his body shivering from every touch. When Corpse’s fingers brushed against the waistband of Sykkuno’s pants he slipped a finger under but was stopped by Sykkuno’s hand grabbing his.

“Corpse, wait!” Sykkuno didn’t know what to say, his body was screaming at him to keep going but he wasn’t sure if this was going too fast. “I don’t know…”

“I want you.” Corpse stared determinedly into his eyes, his lust and passion had his eyes blown wide, but he was still so serious. “I want you so bad, Sykkuno. Your love, your touch, your sex. I love every inch of you, and I wish to treasure it in the way you deserve. Please Sykkuno. Let me love you.”

God, he was so in love. Maybe to another this might be moving too fast, but he wanted this, needed this. This was it for him, there was no need to hold back.

Corpse made quick of his night pants, letting the cool air caress his skin and cause goose bumps to break out on his thighs. He felt Corpse’s gaze, a force of their own, roaming over every inch of him, pinning him down and keeping him bear for those rough fingers to follow their path. There was no hiding how each of Corpse’s caresses affected him, every twitch of excitement and shudder of pleasure were pulled from his willing form under Corpse’s watchful gaze.

When Corpse’s mouth joined his fingers Sykkuno couldn’t contain his sounds any longer. He gasped and moaned as Corpse wrapped his lips around him and sucked. His toes curled as his nerves spiked so severely it was almost painful. Every time Corpse took him deeper, he cried out, his stomach twisted, and his body fought to get away and pull him closer at the same time, so infuriatingly good. When Corpse’s tongue stroked him, he couldn’t stop his hips from bucking up. Corpse was quick to hold him down but being restrained so easily only turned him on more.

Corpse pulled off him and Sykkuno cried in despair, his voice no longer functioning with words, his brain couldn’t find the language. Corpse met his eyes as his mouth began to travel lower. He couldn’t imagine what he looked like at that moment, but Corpse couldn’t take his eyes off him, not even as he flattened his tongue against his opening.

Sykkuno screamed in unexpected pleasure. “CORPSE! Please… Wait... not- Ahh” What was he doing with his tongue? Nobody had ever- Why did it feel so good?

Corpse ignored his questioning tone in favour of lapping at his fluttering hole. Sykkuno threw his head back in pleasure, pressing the side of his face into the bed, his hands grasping at the covers in an attempt to ground himself before he drowned in the feeling of Corpse pressing his tongue into his body.

All he could focus on was the feeling of Corpse’s tongue pushing rhythmically against his convulsing walls, his body working on its own trying to encourage the muscle deeper within him, and it did. Corpse’s long tongue continued to work him open, teasing him and pleasuring him, building up a ball of energy in his gut and searching for the trigger to release. It hit him when Corpse pressed into that spot inside of him. The wave of pleasure that hit him had him seeing white, his mouth dropped open, but he wasn’t sure he made a sound. His hips bucked uncontrollably as that slippery tongue continued to massage the bundle of nerves inside him, riding his orgasm out to its fullest and leaving him gasping for air.

When the thrums of pleasure finally faded, he opened his eyes, unaware of when he closed them. He felt boneless and tired, but he wanted, needed- Corpse.

He lay beside him now, on his side, propped up on an elbow, looking down at him endearingly.

“What up, baby?” He asked, a self-satisfied grin on his face.

Sykkuno didn’t know if he wanted to punch him or kiss him. How dare he look at him so smug, looking as perfect as ever, while Sykkuno probably looked like an absolute mess, and he just asks him _What’s up?_

Sykkuno fought against his loose limbs in order to catch Corpse off guard with a kiss. His momentum pushing Corpse onto his back as Sykkuno leaned on his chest to keep their lips attached. Sykkuno barely noticed that Corpse had retracted his ribs again, too focused on Corpse’s arousal pushing against the material of his pants. Sykkuno thrust a hand into Corpse’s pants and wrapped his hand around the throbbing organ. Corpse moaned loudly and accidentally bit Sykkuno’s lip in surprise.

“Sykkuno! Wait… It’s okay, you’re exhausted… you don’t have too.”

“But I want too.” Sykkuno insisted, gripping his sex tighter and stroking it slowly.

Corpse growled lowly and pulled Sykkuno back into a distracting kiss. There were more teeth than tongue but Sykkuno couldn’t care. Each nip of Corpse’s sharp fangs caused his heart to skip and adrenaline to sprint through his veins. This was a predator that was going to devour him and Sykkuno couldn’t wait any longer.

Sykkuno threw a leg over Corpse’s thighs, hauling himself up so that he could feel the creature’s hardness press against him. They moaned in unison and Corpse grabbed at Sykkuno’s hips to steady him while Sykkuno held himself up with his hands against Corpse’s toned chest. Finding the right position Sykkuno ground his hips down and shuddered at the delicious friction and the sight of the panting creature beneath him. Sykkuno felt on top of the world.

Sykkuno bore down on him again but this time Corpse thrust back up into him and he couldn’t get enough. Sykkuno might have been the one on top but there was still a fire in Corpse’s eyes that said that Sykkuno was exactly where he wanted him to be.

Oh God, he wanted it now. Needed it so bad. To have Corpse inside him, thick and unyielding, filling up places that have felt empty for years.

“Please, Corpse. Please!”

Corpse ground up into him again, holding his hips down to keep the preassure up as he rubbed against him. “Yeah, Baby. Tell me what you want.”

The pleasure was too much but not enough. He wanted to feel his skin against him, hot and heavy, pushing against him, opening him up, the burn, the ecstasy.

“More… More!” Sykkuno managed to stutter out.

“More? Gonna need more than that, Baby. Come on, tell me what you need.” Corpse purred.

“Need you! In- Inside… Please, Corpse. Fuck me!”

With a deep growl Sykkuno suddenly found himself flipped over, once again on his back with Corpse above him, his eyes neatly completely blown out as he ground his now bare cock against Sykkuno’s entrance. Sykkuno screamed at the sudden feeling of Corpse’s flesh, bare and slick, so close to where he needs him.

“Corpse! Cor- Please!” He stammered. To consumed with lust and frustration. “Now!”

“Do you think you’re ready for me?” Corpse asked, his voice somehow even lower and Sykkuno couldn’t think anymore. “Was my tongue good enough to open you up or should I make sure.” Corpse said, inserting a finger anyway, finding Sykkuno just loose enough but still deliciously tight.

Sykkuno mindlessly ground himself down on Corpse’s finger, it wasn’t enough, but it was something. Something that was immediately taken away again and Sykkuno whined loudly, grasping at Corpse’s arms and shoulders desperately. But then he felt something else pressed against his entrance, thick and hard.

Corpse kissed him again as he began to push inside, distracting him from the burn of the stretch. His hands teasing Sykkuno, running over all the sensitive places he had explored earlier with his tongue as he pushed ever so slowly into Sykkuno. Into his lover. His hot, perfect, strong, fragile, beautiful lover.

Sykkuno didn’t know where he was anymore, didn’t care either. All that mattered was Corpse, around him, in him, touching him. He welcomed the stretch and the burn because he knew that Corpse was filling him completely, leaving no space untouched. It felt so good and he couldn’t help clenching around him just to feel Corpse growl carnally against his lips and feel his cock throbbing inside him.

When Corpse was all the way inside, he paused, giving Sykkuno time to adjust but Sykkuno couldn’t wait. He squirmed beneath Corpse, pushing against him, until he finally began to move. Corpse moaned softly as he pulled out halfway before thrusting back in again, gradually picking up the pace as Sykkuno clawed at his back, unable to say anything but wanting more.

The sound of their coupling resounded through the room but Sykkuno was running on a different soundtrack, their hearts beating in unison as their bodies melded into one.

After one particularly hard thrust Sykkuno screamed out, Corpse having found that perfect spot and his walls clenched tightly around him. Corpse groaned at the pressure and pulled out completely, flipping Sykkuno over and up onto his knees before slamming back into him and setting a brutal pace.

Sykkuno gasped into the pillows, the new angle was far beyond anything he’d ever felt before and he could only lie there with his mouth agape and tears in his eyes as the pleasure shot through his tense body. His thighs trembled from the effort of keeping himself up, but he still pushed back into every thrust never wanting this to end.

“Fuck yeah, Baby.” Corpse moaned, watching his pretty human fall apart at his hands. Fucking even harder as he pushed closer to an orgasm.

Each thrust punched the air out of Sykkuno’s lungs in heady gasps and pants. Thank god he didn’t need to breath because he probably would have suffocated from lack of oxygen. As it was, it only increased the rush and he quickly found himself reaching his limit. Sykkuno was suddenly overcome with euphoria, a blinding feeling that cut out everything. His body shuddered at the overwhelming feeling and he was pulled up into Corpse’s arms as he too hit his orgasm, faintly feeling his essence filling him up from the inside.

When he came too, he was sitting in Corpse’s lap, lying against one arm as the other caressed his face and moved down his body with a soft, damp cloth. Sykkuno looked up at his partner who had noticed his recovery and was already watching him with a fond look on his face.

Sykkuno groaned when he tried to move, his muscles screaming in protest. The way his body had been so high-stung the whole time left him feeling like he’d just run a marathon.

Corpse just cooed at him ducking his head down to kiss him lightly. There was no edge or rush, no teeth or tongue, just the feeling of their lips pressed together, it was perfect. That’s when Sykkuno’s stomach decided to rumble and he quickly pulled away with a blush.

Copse just grinned at him. “Looks like we need to get you some food.”

“Yeah, you too.” Sykkuno said firmly.

“What? No. That stuff is disgusting, I’m never touching it again.”

“Is that why you never ate?” Sykkuno asked remembering all those times that he’d only seemed to play with his food.

Corpse nodded. “I have you, and I have flowers.”

“You know they’re not going to last right? We have what… a month before we get to your- our home? You’re going to have to eat some human food.” Sykkuno insisted.

“I’d rather starve.” Corpse said childishly.

“What if I feed it to you?” Sykkuno asked shyly.

“That doesn’t change the taste.” Corpse grinned.

“What if I force feed it to you?” Sykkuno repeated in the same shy tone but this time with an edge to it.

Corpse looked at him in surprise. This was a new Sykkuno, attractive but kind of scary. Corpse just settled on agreeing for now, he could explore this new discovery after Sykkuno gets some food in him.

Corpse got up easily and moved to a dresser to pull out some clothes.

Sykkuno sat up with a groan and put a hand to his stomach still feeling so full. What had Corpse done to him?

“God, I feel like I’m pregnant.” Sykkuno joked.

“You could be.” Corpse turned and gave him a bright grin. “What? You are a Carrier after all.”

!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaannnd that's it! It's done! No more!
> 
> Thank you all for reading this, it was really fun to write and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Happy New Year! Wish you all the best!

**Author's Note:**

> If you like it, Give Kudos!  
> Constructive criticism is always appreciated!
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes, this work is self edited, so I probably missed something.


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